Boots

BOOTS

Health and Wellbeing

Boots Ireland recently celebrated 10 years of partnership with the Irish Cancer Society and also continues working as a parnter on the Dementia Understand Together campaign

Boots Ireland and the Irish Cancer Society Teams

As a health & and wellbeing pharmacy, Boots have a vision to help customers lead more joyful lives through better health. “With 92 stores spread across the country within the heart of local communities, we are ideally placed in doing so and our partnerships below are an example of how we do this,” says Martha Ryan, Head of Human Resources and CSR Lead.

“Boots Ireland’s partnership with the Irish Cancer Society began back in 2012 and we have recently celebrated 10 years of partnership,” notes Ryan. The aims of the partnership are to help increase awareness and early detection, providing support to those affected by cancer as well as fundraising, with all funds raised going to the Irish Cancer Society Night Nursing service.”

The Night Nursing service provides

OVER 2,000 OF BOOTS TEAM MEMBERS HAVE COMPLETED A DEMENTIA AWARENESS E-LEARNING TRAINING WHICH IS INCLUDED AS PART OF INDUCTION

up to 10 nights free end of life care and the role of the Night Nurse enables patients to be comfortable, and in an environment where they can spend their final days with their loved ones, as well as giving respite to the family at a time when they need it most.

To date Boots have raised over €2.5 million through the support of team members, patients, and customers, which has helped to provide 7,200 nights of care. “This is done through a range of fundraising activities with the largest event of the year being the annual 5km Boots Night Walk for Night Nurses which last year, despite COVID-19, saw our virtual Night Walk raising over €107,000, in walking together but from afar,” explains Ryan.

Through utilising the expertise of two key roles instore, — the Boots Irish Cancer Society Information Pharmacist and the Boots Cancer Beauty Advisor roles, Boots can help support and offer advice to those who are going through cancer treatment. Team Members in both of these roles receive additional training in conjunction with the Irish Cancer Society and the services are free to avail of.

DEMENTIA - UNDERSTAND TOGETHER Since joining the Dementia: Understand Together campaign on its launch in October 2016, Boots has helped to provide an inclusive experience across its stores for those affected by dementia. There are currently over 64,000 people living with dementia and over 500,000 people whose families have been affected by Dementia in Ireland. Staying socially active and engaged supports the independence, health, and wellbeing of those living with the condition and engage in everyday activities, such as shopping.

Since partnering on the campaign, Boots has carried out a range of activities in helping to promote awareness and build a dementia inclusive experience in-store.

Over 2,000 of Boots team members have completed a dementia awareness e-Learning training which is included as part of induction.

Boots Ireland is one of 40 partners on the Dementia: Understand Together campaign and are the only retailer to have offered this awareness training to all of our Team Members,” notes Ryan.