Hi Huneybees,
Bettr Barista Coffee Academy, A-changin Private Limited and Design Up Asia – three local social enterprises focused on helping marginalised women in Singapore lead better lives, have taken strong steps in recent months towards growing their businesses with the support of the Arthur Guinness Fund™.
The Arthur Guinness Fund – A Global Initiative
First set up in 2009 to further the philanthropic legacy of founder Arthur Guinness and his descendants, the Arthur Guinness Fund has since gained global recognition for its commitment towards supporting social entrepreneurs around the world. With over S$11.6 million committed globally since the Fund’s inception, social entrepreneurs across the world have been given a real boost in effecting real social change. It was launched in Singapore in November last year with the aim of helping local single mothers and ex-offenders earn a better living and better cope with their daily challenges.
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| (From L-R) Mr Graham Villiers-Tuthill, Marketing Manager, Guinness Singapore, the Design Up Asia team and Mr Seah Kian Peng, MP for Marine Parade GRC at the Design Up Asia launch event |
“GUINNESS is proud to partner with Bettr Barista Coffee Academy, A-changin Private Limited and Design Up Asia through the Arthur Guinness Fund and to be associated with the remarkable work that they have been doing to not only build their businesses but to crucially empower and help more marginalised women in Singapore. The stories behind each of these social enterprises and those of the women whose lives have been transformed positively as a result constantly inspires us and we are committed to support more of such real social change.” --- Mr. Rene de Monchy, Head of Marketing, Asia Pacific Breweries Singapore.
Design Up Asia Launches In Singapore
I was at their launch event and got to see the beautifully made accessories...
After a three-day Arthur Guinness Fund Hackathon in December involving 200 passionate, like-minded people from all walks of life, the Design Up Asia team emerged with the opportunity to build their winning business idea into a real-world project to facilitate real social change.
Given a grant of S$30,000 by the Arthur Guinness Fund, the team comprising fashion marketing lecturer Anisa Johnny, engineering graduate Ho Yi Chuen and local writer Kim Ong, collaborated to launch an online store (www.designupasia.com) retailing fashionable hand-made jewellery in March this year.
The up-cycled semi-precious pieces are all lovingly designed and hand-made by single mothers who had limited access to formal paid employment but now have the opportunity to earn an income and work from home where they can also care for their children. Working with five single mothers at present, the Design Up Asia team has plans to continue training them and to grow the team in the coming months.
Haute Alteration Initiative Expands With A Bigger Retail Space in Mandarin Gallery
Also receiving support from the Arthur Guinness Fund is A-changin Private Limited, a social enterprise launched in 2009 with a mission to provide training and employment opportunities to grow and empower marginalized women in Singapore. A-changin, which has two retail outlets which offer high-end clothes alteration services, aims to equip disadvantaged women with garment alteration skills so that they can attain an adequate source of income and lead a better quality of life.
With a staff strength of 40, A-changin pays its employees above the market rate and invests heavily in training its team, made up of single mothers, low-income earners or women with disabilities. Winner of the inaugural President's Challenge Social Enterprise Award last year, A-changin was able to move its Haute Alteration Initiative outlet to a bigger, more prominent unit (#03-30) on the third floor of Mandarin Gallery with the support of a S$30,000 grant from the Fund.
The new Haute Alteration Initiative unit, three times bigger than the previous one, has two fitting rooms with automated curtains as well as a luxurious room for its customers who include royalties, socialites, prominent corporate leaders, expatriates and tourists. A-changin believes that the expansion of its Haute Alteration Initiative outlet will generate an increase of 25% on its total revenue which would translate to an increase in training and employment of at least 10 disadvantaged women within the next three years.
Bettr Barista Opens Its Second Outlet In *SCAPE
Bettr Barista Coffee Academy, the first local social enterprise selected by GUINNESS® to receive support from the Fund last year, has since opened its second outlet at *SCAPE in February this year. Founded in November 2011 with an outlet in Saybons Aljunied, Bettr Barista is Singapore’s first social enterprise centred on arming disadvantaged and underprivileged women with the skills and tools to improve their lives.
Bettr Barista helps these women via a three-pronged holistic programme which combines world-class barista training with emotional and physical skills training, all the while being self-sustaining. With the second outlet in *SCAPE, Better Barista has since been able to grow its overall intake of participants comprising women such as single mothers who have difficulty securing regular income streams.
Additional announcements about the Arthur Guinness Fund will be announced in the coming months. For more information about Guinness Singapore, please visit the brand’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/Guinness.SG.
