Arthur Guinness Projects: The Fund is Just Beginning

Arthur Guinness was what we would think of nowadays as an enlightened entrepreneur. As a businessman, he was committed to giving something back to improve the communities where Guinness was available. Those same values are carried forward into the 21st century by the Arthur Guinness Fund, established in 2009 – on the 250th anniversary of the foundation of the Guinness brewery – to assist social entrepreneurs to deliver “measurable, transformational change” in Ireland and around the world. The Arthur Guinness Projects initiative is the latest development in this story of engagement...

Over the past four years, Guinness has already committed to providing €7.4 million for the fund, paid for in part by revenues derived from the global Arthur’s Day celebrations. In Ireland alone, Guinness has pledged a further €3 million over the next three years to the Arthur Guinness Projects strand. To date, 30 Irish social entrepreneurs have received funding, as well as professional business mentoring for their projects. In the process, Guinness has trained a spotlight on the huge number of innovators in Ireland – and on the enormous creative potential of the country.
Guinness defines social entrepreneurs as “People with business heads and social hearts. In tough economic times, they play a vital role in alleviating the many issues facing our communities.”
“Social entrepreneurs,” the Arthur Guinness Fund mission statement adds, “use creative thinking to develop solutions for social problems. Whilst most businesses measure their impact in profit, social entrepreneurs focus on creating lasting, positive change for communities.”
This is the background to the Arthur Guinness Projects initiative, which was launched in Dublin last week: it is all about positive change and supporting creativity.

The Sound of the Crowd
One of the more high profile projects supported by Guinness, since 2010, is the Irish crowdfunding site Fundit.ie. The website showcases creative enterprises and attracts friends, fans and followers who ‘fund’ ideas they like, in return for ‘creative rewards’.
The project being funded could be a debut album, a new book, a play or even a new invention, while the ‘reward’ can take any form – from the simplest offering of a copy of the album or book you just helped to fund, to a special event in your house – depending, of course, on the nature of the project and the amount contributed.
Crowdfunding is increasingly regarded as a viable alternative for artists who wish to work outside traditional economic models. Last year, there was considerable surprise when the American singer Amanda Palmer raised $1 million from fans to cover the cost of recording and promoting her new LP (she talks about the fund-raising drive in the latest issue of Hot Press).
In Ireland, high-profile artists including Julie Feeney and Fight Like Apes have utilized Fundit. The latter this year raised €20,000 to pay for the mastering of their new record, having decided it was smarter to control their own destiny than work with a conventional record label.
“It’s to pay for the mixing, the art-work, a run of merch,” said the band’s Mary-Kate Geraghty. “Plus, all the other things we didn’t have to pay for before – PR, travel, stuff like that. We need to get off the ground and start gigging and making money again. The van has coughed its last cough.
“At the moment,” she added, “it is being mixed by Ash Workman, whose credits include Metronomy’s The English Riviera. A chunk of their Fundit cash will go towards paying Workman.”
While the artist or creator clearly benefits, it isn’t a one way street. “There is huge potential for fundit.ie to strengthen the bond between creators and their audience and sculpt our future cultural make-up,” Fundit founder Stuart McLaughlin told Hot Press. “It is designed to support greater individual ‘giving’ to the creative sector – an area that up until now has been under-utilised.”
Fundit is for any creative project or idea in Ireland, whether by an individual, or a group and is based on the premise that a strong creative idea can attract small amounts of money from a large number of people – whether family, friends, supporters, or members of the general public who want to see a great idea realised.
Thus, Julie Feeney, the award-winning singer-songwriter, composer and arranger, has raised over €23,000 from over 200 donors to help record her next album; WeBanjo 3, a bluegrass outfit from Galway, raised over €2,000 to help get to the Milwaukee Irish Music Festival for a prestigious slot on the bill. Kíla frontman Ronan Ó Snódaigh has also raised in excess of €5,000 to help stage a five night retrospective live performance of his five solo albums to date in Whelan’s in Dublin. All good, as they say.
One of the most progressive aspects of the Arthur Guinness Fund is that it’s not only financial support that is provided to the entrepreneurs: as the Arthur Guinness Projects model reaffirms, awardees also have access to mentoring, practical support, expertise and workshops from Diageo and its partner, Social Entrepreneurs Ireland.
In this way, the Arthur Guinness Fund has acted as a springboard to enable social entrepreneurs to make their vision a reality. The Arthur Guinness Projects initiative takes that process on to the next level.

THE HEIGHT OF FASHION
Rediscover Fashion was another projects supported by the Arthur Guinness Fund in 2010. It was established by Carrie Ann Moran and Sarah Miller to address growing concerns within the fashion and textiles industry, relating to the environmental and social impact of disposable clothing.
Despite being relatively easy to recycle, an estimated 93% of all textile waste in Ireland is sent to landfill, producing seriously detrimental environmental effects. Textiles present particular problems in landfill as synthetic, man-made fibres do not decompose. In addition, while woollen garments do decompose, they produce methane, which contributes to global warming.
As well as having a positive impact on the environment, this project also has social and economic benefits. While the project has generated a steady revenue stream from the sale of a 100% recycled and ethical clothing line, Carrie Ann and Sarah have also been able to provide training and employment. “We have a fashion studio and an eco store where we sell all of our designs,” Carrie Ann Moran told Hot Press. “Each piece is unique and because of the nature of what we do the fabrics aren’t going to be repeated. It’s for people who are fashion savvy and who want something special.
While focusing mainly on women’s lines, Rediscover Fashion do some men’s clothes on commission. “We use everything from bridal silks to polyester,” Carrie Ann explained, “but the most popular items would be made from the durable material, such as cotton, etc.
“Being a not-for-profit project, all revenue gained will be reinvested in training, materials and job creation. The project aims to change the way we, as a society, view recycled clothing, behave as consumers and manage textile waste.”
It is these kind of socially valuable schemes that have been adopted as Arthur Guinness Projects. Now with a bigger fund than ever before and a simpler, more streamlined application process, the Arthur Guinness Projects initiative has been taken to a new level. Which, of course, is what makes this new development so exciting...