CORK Simon and the Irish Guide Dogs were the beneficiaries of a €10,000 donation from Cork’s Imperial Hotel, through money fundraised during the pandemic.

The two Cork charities received a donation of €5,000 each, raised by the hotel and its guests during 2020 and 2021, as part of its #BecasueWeCare plan to give back to the local community.

Funds were raised through voluntary donations at the door at events such as the Guinness Cork Jazz Festival and the Sustainable Market before Christmas, as well as through ‘invisible’ menu items that customers could order as a €5 donation to their nominated charity partner.

Manager Bastien Peyraud said the hotel’s donation is a “love letter to the city”.

“We hope our donation to the Cork Simon Community and Irish Guide Dogs will go some way to expressing our appreciation of all the fantastic work they do,” he said.

The Imperial Hotel’s charity partners for next year are Rebel Wheelers and Cork Penny Dinners which was first established in a meeting in the Imperial Hotel in 1888.