Mercedes scoops the first Grace Influential Positive Impact Award

31/05/2023

The Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team was awarded the inaugural Grace Influential Positive Impact Award at a celebration held last weekend during the Monaco Grand Prix.

The Positive Impact Award from the Princess Grace Foundation USA’s Grace Influential initiative was created as a way to applaud a Formula 1 team or organisation for its tangible achievements in an ongoing commitment towards innovation and positive impact through sustainability, inclusion or philanthropic means.

These lofty aspirations were met by the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, who won the 2023 inaugural prize with the ambitious Accelerate 25 programme that pledges to recruit 25% of new team members from under-represented groups by 2025. The plan, already in effect for the last two years, has made incredible progress, increasing female team members by a quarter as well as tripling the number of people from ethnic minorities.

“At Mercedes, we believe that a more diverse and inclusive team drives greater performance on track,” said Bradley Lord, Mercedes’ Communications Director.

The top flight brand has also aligned itself using the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals to guide students from marginalised groups toward careers in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) fields through partnerships with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the Stemettes, the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers, the Sutton Trust and the Business Disability Forum.

“We are delighted to be recognised as the first recipients of the Princess Grace Positive Impact Award, especially given the quality of the projects that are happening across all the F1 teams,” said Lord. “It was great to see how all the teams are using the sport’s global platform to inspire and enable opportunity.”

*Prince Albert II with Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Photo source: Princess Grace Foundation USA*

EXCELLENCE AMONGST ALL ENTRANTS

Though Mercedes snagged the top spot, McLaren Racing with their Racing Engage programme and Alfa Romeo with the Save the Children partnership gave them a run for their money, coming in second and third respectively. Each team received special commendations for their efforts.

“We were thrilled to see how enthusiastically the Formula 1 teams have taken up the spirit of the Grace Influential Positive Impact Award; the standard of entries has been superlative and has set the bar extremely high in this first year of the award’s existence,” said Brisa Carleton, CEO of the Princess Grace Foundation.

Celebrations continued in the Grand Prix pitlane on Saturday, when Prince Albert II of Monaco and Brisa Carleton, along with CEO of Liberty Media Greg Maffei and CEO of Formula 1 Stefano Domenicali, presented Mercedes Team Principle Toto Wolff with the winning trophy: an artistic piece by Dale Chihuly entitled Gilded Mediterranean Blue Venetian with Speckled Leaves 2022.

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Featured photo: Prince Albert with Brisa Carleton and Toto Wolff, source: Princess Grace Foundation USA

Top street artists heading to Monaco for UPAINT 2023

by: Stephanie Horsman

31/05/2023

For four days next week, the Promenade du Larvotto will be abuzz with the sounds of graffiti artists from the world over as Monaco welcomes back its vibrant UPAINT urban painting festival.

Street art, formerly known as graffiti, had its roots in 1970s New York City, when young people used spray paint and other materials to illegally create images on the sides of buildings and subway trains. For decades, many didn’t understand the art and therefore found it offensive, but, as it is said, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and these artists, called taggers, persevered.

Fast-forward to today and street art is big business. A cousin to its original form, it is now a highly sophisticated and sought-after medium produced by talented artists, some of whom have become well-known globally.

Monaco at the forefront

Monaco saw the writing on the wall and has been at the forefront of recognising this art form. The Principality launched the Urban Painting Around the World (UPAW) festival, which morphed into UPAINT, some seven years ago and it continues to attract top artists.

This year’s crew includes: Mon Devane and Lula Goce from Spain; One Truth Bros out of Switzerland; Norway’s Martin Whatson and Hama Wood; Stom500, Lord Anthony Cahn and Nils Inne from France; Woskerski of the UK; Iéna Cruz via Italy and the USA; Rylsee from Germany; and Monaco’s own Mr One Teas.

The festival will also host interactive activities, such as the Street Art Challenge Junior, which is a showcase of Monaco’s secondary school students’ creativity. Visitors will also be able to walk through an exhibition of artworks from previous editions of UPAINT – some pieces of which will be on sale as limited edition prints – and express their own talents on a dedicated wall space.

More than art

Organiser Alberto Colman, his team and the artists invited for this edition will all be supporting a new initiative from the Prince Albert II Foundation (FPA2), which is called Re.Generation and whose purpose is to foster the fulfilment of 10 young and talented candidates under 35 years of age to become tomorrow’s leaders in the field of environmental protection.

The FPA2 will also be holding its 2023 Environmental Photography Award exhibition simultaneously on the Larvotto boardwalk.

Creativity in the virtual world

This year’s UPAINT will not only be in the vanguard regarding art, but in technology as well. It will be the Principality’s first cultural event to be held concurrently in the virtual world via DWorld, allowing more visitors than ever to take part and share in the experience.

As in previous years, collectors will be able to bid on the finished artworks from the artists on the evening of the last day at an auction organised by the Hôtel des Ventes de Monte-Carlo (HVMC). Bidders will also be able to participate online through Invaluable.com and Drouot.com.

UPAINT runs from 10am to 10pm on the Larvotto Promenade from 4th to 7th June. For more information, please click here.

Do you have an event in Monaco or the French Riviera that you would like us to include in our What’s On section and events calendar? Please email editor@monacolife.net.

Photo credit: Axel Bastello / Palais Princier de Monaco

Brits aren’t listening to warnings about sun safety, says report

by: Stephanie Horsman

31/05/2023

Worrying statistics suggest sun safety measures aren’t getting through to some British holidaymakers, with more than one in 20 saying they never wear sun protection when abroad.

Summer is fast approaching and soon tourists will be hitting the beach in droves, looking to create holiday memories for years to come.

But with beautiful sunny days can come serious damage: skin cancer accounts for 4% of all new European cancer diagnoses and 1.3% of all cancer deaths (in 2020).

Now a consumer research survey by Europesure Travel Insurance, which was published during Melanoma and Skin Cancer Awareness Month in May, has flagged fresh concerns that the messages about using sun protection to reduce the risks of skin cancer just aren’t getting through to some British holidaymakers.

POOR HABITS

The study revealed that while more than a quarter of respondents are worried about skin cancer, a full 5.5% never bother with any form of protection from the sun. That figure creeps up to 8% for the 18-to-24-year age group.

On cloudy days, 11% say they don’t think to wear sun cream as they don’t consider sun damage to be a consideration in those conditions. Experts say differently, however, arguing that up to 80% of the sun’s UV radiation reaches the earth on overcast days.

7% of those surveyed said that even though they do use sun cream, they prefer to use a low SPF in order to get a tan, and that number goes up to 13% for 18 to 24-year-olds.

Painful sunburn has been experienced by 27% of British holidaymakers. Women are more affected than men, with a third admitting to getting burnt while abroad.

A shocking number of respondents also said that a sunburn “is just part of the holiday experience”, showing a distinct lack of awareness of the facts: sunburn is known to increase melanoma risks, with that risk level being compounded each time a person gets burnt.

WORRYING ATTITUDES

Europesure Travel Insurance’s Sales and Marketing Director, Paul O’Sullivan, said, “Our survey highlighted worrying attitudes towards sun safety, particularly amongst younger generations. Although we surveyed British travellers, we are sure that the same behaviours are exhibited by travellers from other countries too, so want to extend the warning across Europe.”

Melanoma cases are rising around the globe, with experts saying they are anticipating a 27% rise in cases between 2020 and 2030. In human figures, this is 413,000 new cancer sufferers. Melanoma deaths are also predicted to rise –-by a whopping 31% in this decade – with the total mortality projected to be 74,750 people annually by 2030.

“It’s time for all European travellers to take much better care of themselves and their families when out in the sun,” said O’Sullivan, “and to appreciate that a tan can come at a huge health price.”

To get the most out of sun protection, apply a cream or similar product at least half an hour before initial exposure and reapply every two hours or immediately after swimming or sweating.

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Photo source: Arturo Rivera for Unsplash

Day: 31 May 2023