PROJECTS

The Water Filter Enterprise programme aims to build a sustainable market for affordable household CrystalPur™ water filters to reduce waterborne disease amongst 250,000 people in Ghana and Nigeria. The programme will increase the entrepreneurial and training skills for thousands more, leading to higher incomes and healthier populations.

The programme partners with Enterpriseworks / VITA, a not-for-profit organisation who will support local entrepreneurs in the distribution and retail sales of the water filters, as well as develop local campaigns to educate on the benefits of clean water and hygiene.

The ARTHUR GUINNESS FUND has made a commitment to the Clinton Global Initiative to partner with Youth Business America (YBA) to extend micro loans to aspiring entrepreneurs of legal drinking age and above.

YBA is a branch of The Prince’s Trust Youth Business International. This project plans to commit support to at least 150 young entrepreneurs in the YBA programme over approximately five years. The programme will also provide volunteers from Guinness & Co., and its parent company Diageo plc, to offer counsel in marketing and innovation and educate business developers about the importance of establishing social responsibility practices for their new ventures.

The ARTHUR GUINNESS FUND will support UnLtd, a foundation for social entrepreneurs, to inspire action to make a difference in people’s lives by encouraging social entrepreneurship within communities.

The programme aims to deliver 31 awards, comprising cash and volunteered business support and advice, which will impact on upwards of 4,600 people directly in a tangible and sustainable manner. The social entrepreneur support model will create a collective of social leaders who will create positive social impact in their communities by delivering social ventures, namely through the area of regeneration.

Working in partnership with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, the ARTHUR GUINNESS FUND is donating €2.5m to support and empower social entrepreneurs. A social entrepreneur is someone who has the spirit, energy and drive of a successful business entrepreneur, but rather than strive exclusively for profit, their core purpose is to improve and benefit society.

The programme will support up to 25 social entrepreneurs over a two-year period to create innovative and sustainable projects that deliver a benefit to communities across Ireland. The programme will be accepting applications again in October 2010.

The ARTHUR GUINNESS FUND will work with The British Council on a programme to develop a sustainable support system for a growing body of community-based entrepreneurs working to deliver climate and social solutions that will deliver tangible benefits in their communities.

The programme aims to develop a network of 30 established community-based entrepreneurs to support 120 early-stage community-based entrepreneurs. This network will provide sustainable solutions to various social and environmental problems by applying innovative business approaches to the early-stage business plans.