Arthur Guinness Fund reopens

07/10/2010 Arthur Guinness Fund reopens

The Arthur Guinness Fund has re–opened for applications from social entrepreneurs around Ireland, with up to €1 million available to social entrepren ...
The Arthur Guinness Fund has re–opened for applications from social entrepreneurs around Ireland, with up to €1 million available to social entrepreneurs who have projects that are innovative, impactful and sustainable.

The Arthur Guinness Fund is an innovative investment vehicle set up to further the legacy of Arthur Guinness and support social entrepreneurs around the world.

Created with an initial investment of over €6m to mark the 250th anniversary of the signing of the lease for the GUINNESS brewery at St James's Gate, the fund is committed to identifying and supporting social entrepreneurs globally with the skills and resources required to deliver measureable, transformational change to communities around the world.

Applications must be completed online.  In order to apply to the Arthur Guinness Fund, projects must meet the following criteria:

– The project must be led by a social entrepreneur who will commit to dedicating an appropriate amount of time to successfully implementing it.
– The primary focus of the project must be on benefitting people over the age of 18.

– The social entrepreneur must be 18 years or over when submitting an application form to the fund.

– The social entrepreneur must be resident in Ireland (either the Republic of Ireland or Northern Ireland).

– The project should have an innovative approach to driving sustainable social change.

– The primary focus of the project must be on benefitting communities in Ireland.

– The social entrepreneur must be able to demonstrate not only the power of the idea but also how it will be implemented successfully (especially over the next two years).

– The social entrepreneur must have a clear way to measure the project's social impact.

–  The social entrepreneur should be able to show how funding and support from the Arthur Guinness Fund in particular will make a tangible and measurable difference to the project.

Applications are split into two sections this year.

– People who apply under the 'Start–Up' section will receive €25,000 in funding per annum for 2 years. Funding is based on performance in meeting certain predetermined milestones. Winners of this category will be challenged to raise additional funds from other sources – an essential skill for early stage social entrepreneurs.

– People who apply under the 'Take–Off' section will receive €50,000 in funding per annum for 2 years. Funding is based on performance in meeting certain predetermined milestones.

All successful projects will receive technical and practical support as part of the award, and benefit from access to the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Alumni Network.

Applicants are asked to register their project under one of six specific categories:  These are Technology and Social Media for Social Good, Skills for Life, Enriching the Environment, Social and Community Regeneration, Culture and Arts and Community Wellbeing.  A final open category is also available to projects that do not fit within any of the specific categories, but are still working towards sustainable social change in Ireland.
In the first year of the process, 2010, 10 projects were supported and in 2011 it is anticipated that a similar number of social entrepreneurs will be awarded through the Arthur Guinness Fund.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 10 November 2010 at 5pm.
For more information please visit:
http://www.guinness.com/en–ie/arthursday/fund.html


If you have any questions please email
TheArthurGuinnessFundirel@diageo.com

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