Champions Speakers Corporate Social Responsibility

Corporate Social Responsibility at Champions Speakers is built around long-term impact, community investment, and responsible business practice. The programme is led by the Director of CSR, Louisa Mason-Hayes, ensuring social responsibility is embedded across the organisation.

Louisa Mason-Hayes’ leadership has been recognised with the Most Influential Woman in Corporate Social Responsibility award from Acquisition International, reflecting a CSR strategy driven by action, consistency, and measurable impact.

Louisa Mason-Hayes Most Influential Woman in Corporate Social Responsibility

Charity:

Champions Speakers is proud to give back to those who need it most. Its principal charity partner is Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, supporting children with life-limiting conditions and their families. Through charity events, auctions, and fundraising initiatives, Champions Speakers has raised over £3 million for Rainbows alone. A further £3 million has been raised for other charities, including Brainwave, Cure Leukaemia, The Lord’s Taverners, Giving Africa, Birmingham Children’s Hospital, Great Ormond Street, and the PCA Benevolent Fund.

Dee Sissons, CEO of Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People, left Champions Speakers this glowing review:

"Champions have been the largest, and longest-standing, supporter of Rainbows Hospice for Children and Young People for well over a decade. In this time, they have raised more than £2M to fund our work and in the process putting on countless events, securing hundreds of media and press articles to promote the hospice and introduce us to many more supporters.
Champions are a family business and families are at the heart of how they work. Founded by dad and CEO John, the Hayes family are all incredibly supportive of Rainbows. This goes a long way to explain their passionate commitment to all they do whilst supporting us. All of their support is helping us to deliver our strategy of helping families wherever they are at the hospice, in a hospital or at home.
John himself has suffered the pain of losing his sister Jane to a life-limiting condition and he experienced the strain this put on his parents and their relationship with him and others in the family. By supporting Rainbows, John knows that he is directly helping other families faced with a similar situation who will get the care they need, when they need it.
Each year, Champions create a programme of high-profile events that are either in aid of Rainbows or that include some fundraising elements on behalf of the charity. In recent years these have included an annual gala ball at the Dorchester, cricket and rugby dinners, countless awards evenings and numerous golf events. Even through the pandemic and when the restrictions were lifted in 2021, they never forgot their commitment to Rainbows and as soon as possible got back to fundraising for us.
It's been my pleasure as CEO at Rainbows to work with Champions to support their events. Their commitment to supporting children and young people with life-limiting conditions is hugely valued and we look forward to continuing our partnership with them for many years to come."

Local Community:

Supporting the local community is also a key focus. Champions Speakers has sponsored essential equipment for Costock Primary School and contributed funding to its local park. We are also a member of the Leicester City Community Partnership and have worked with Leicestershire County Cricket Club to donate a club membership to underserved communities.

John Hayes & Roxanna Farthing pictured with the Leicestershire County Cricket Club membership and at the Leicester City Community Partnership event

Champions Speakers' CEO, John Hayes, and Director of Operations, Roxanna Farthing, with the donated Leicestershire County Cricket Club membership (left), at a Leicester City Community Partnership event (right).

Sustainability:

Environmental sustainability underpins daily operations. Initiatives include active recycling, a cycle-to-work scheme with customised Champions Speakers bicycles, £200,000 invested in solar panels, and water and energy-saving measures such as push taps and sensor-operated lighting.

Diversity & Inclusion:

Champions Speakers is equally committed to equity, diversity, and inclusion, embedding these values into how the business hires, leads, and grows. The company has been recognised as a JP Morgan Top 200 Female Powered Business and employs a genuinely diverse workforce across all levels. This commitment is reinforced through dedicated leadership roles, including the appointment of Jamie McAnsh as Head of Diversity and Inclusion, Emma Tolhurst as Strategic Head of People, and Caspar Craven as Change Mindset Lead. Together, they help ensure inclusion, wellbeing, and progressive thinking remain central to decision-making, culture, and long-term strategy.