FESTIVAL Place has received an international award for providing help during the peak of Covid.

The shopping centre has won the International CSR Excellence Award in the Initiative category for its partnerships with Randox and the NHS.

When overseas travel reopened following the end of Covid lockdowns, Festival Place helped customers holidaying abroad by becoming a local collection and drop-off point for Randox Covid-19 PCR and Lateral Flow tests.

The shopping centre was the only centre in the south to offer this service.

READ MORE: Refit underway for new Spanish tapas restaurant in Festival Place

Gary Cooper, head of operations at Festival Place, said: “We became involved with Randox as we believed having a local click and collect and drop off facility for test kits would benefit our local community.

“We had people visit from as far away from Wales and Devon as we were the only shopping centre within the South of England to offer a click and collect facility.

“Between September 2 and December 31, we issued 15,000 kits to customers and a further 9,000 kits were collected from our 24-hour collection facility within the car park.

“We were the busiest Randox click and collect service outside of London."

The shopping centre also partnered with local GP surgeries struggling to run annual flu clinics and provided the Crown Heights NHS centre with a vacant unit to use.

This partnership has continued with the new health hub, which opened in June, now also offering Covid vaccinations and boosters.

Gary added: “We are delighted to win the CSR Excellence Award for our partnerships with both Randox and the NHS.

SEE ALSO: School boys who raised £10,000 for charity on mission to raise funds for cancer ward

“This is a fantastic recognition of our team’s dedication to excellence in social responsibility and highlights our drive to support projects and initiatives that improve health and safety at Festival Place and across the country.”

The Corporate Social Responsibility Awards are given to those companies with the best social responsibility credits, with the awards presented at a ceremony at the Waldorf Hotel in London.

A message from the editor

Thank you for reading this article - we appreciate your support.

Subscribing means you have unrestricted access to the latest news and reader rewards - all with an advertising-light website.

Don't take my word for it – subscribe here to see for yourself.

Looking to advertise an event? Then check out our free events guide.

Want to keep up with the latest news and join in the debate? You can find and follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.