Cornmarket Group pioneering education inclusion in Ireland

Cornmarket Group Financial Services is one of Ireland’s leading insurance brokers. They provide a range of financial services uniquely focused for public sector employees. Cornmarket is also one of leading companies supporting educational disadvantage in Ireland. They have been involved with Business in the Community Ireland’s (BITCI) since 2006 – on a number of our exciting initiatives supported by their many staff volunteers, including Time to Read, Student Mentoring Programme, World of Work (formerly Skills @ Work (S@W)) and also the sponsorship of our Management Excellence for Principals (MEP) programme. Rachel Hyland, Learning & HR Technology Business Partner is at the helm leading and coordinating their education partnerships on behalf of Cornmarket.

At Cornmarket, supporting education and schools has been developed as a strategic investment in their local community and their staff, “Caring and protecting is at the core of our business. We care about our customers, our employees and the communities around us, supporting vital causes on a local, national and global basis. Our employees volunteer their time and expertise across many different projects.”

This is demonstrated by how the company has maintained their four partnerships with St. Brigid’s National School, Dublin 8 through Time to Read; St. David’s CBS School, Artane, Dublin 5, St. Paul’s CBS School, North Brunswick Street, Dublin 7 and Mount Carmel SS, Dublin 1 through the Student Mentoring Programme & S@W and of course Principals all across Ireland through their sponsorship of our MEP programme.

Their participation in our programmes includes: helping primary school children discover the joy of reading and the world of books for themselves. “I noticed a massive difference in one of the children’s engagement with reading. Her attention improved as did her fluency. Her mother mentioned that she was reading the Time to Read books to her little sister before bed”. – Volunteer.

Cornmarket provides invaluable work experience to students, guiding them towards the big move into the workplace through informative presentations and vital CV building advice. Helping students participate in mock interviews and discussions to stimulate and inspire their career interest and encouraging them to achieve their full potential.  “I completely enjoy the programme. It is interesting to gain an insight into the working world from someone with experience from Cornmarket Group Financial Services. The mentor is a good fit and really brings out the best in me at meetings. I feel that the programme has been a very worthwhile experience”. – Student from St. Paul’s CBS, D7

Cornmarket’s sponsorship of MEP has empowered Principals all over Ireland with access to seminars on effective leadership, performance and management.“This is fantastic and a must do for any Principal. I feel very empowered by this.”- Dublin Principal at a recent Performance Management seminar.

Their work with BITCI will continuously evolve, especially with Rachel Hyland at the centre, Cornmarket will continue to encourage and support both students and their colleague’s engagement in our programmes.  Rachel and Cornmarket raise the bar year on year and we look forward to continuing our work with them in the future.