First volunteers funded by Ginerosity

Ginerosity Gin supporting young people

This weekend sees the first people leaving the UK to take part in demanding volunteer programmes in Africa. Their journey is being supported by social enterprise gin Ginerosity.

We came across Ginerosity last year and got to meet them at the Glasgow Juniper Festival and try the gin (its smooth 👍). Ginerosity was established last year to support young adults into training and education funded by the profits made from sales of the gin.

The six young adults, who are from across the UK, will this week travel to Rwanda, Uganda, Zambia and Ghana, where they will each work for a local social enterprise business as part of a UK Government-funded volunteer programme run by Edinburgh-based charity Challenges Worldwide and the International Citizen Service.

Aimed at growing local economies and providing vocational training, the 10-week programme enables the young people to develop key business skills and undertake the coursework for an industry recognised qualification, while also enabling the businesses to access social investment.

The first round of Ginerosity profits was shared out in April, with the young adults having to make a short video application for the funding.

Daniel Searle, from Essex, said he couldn’t wait for the experience and to “get started and sink my teeth into this project as it’s all starting to get real”, adding that the Ginerosity funding had been an “incredible” contribution to the trip and would enable him to achieve a business management qualification from the Chartered Management Institution (CMI).

He also said he hoped to see more companies setting up as social enterprises, adding that he was keen to set up his own social enterprise in the future.

Joanna Gillan, from East Kilbride and who studies at the City of Glasgow College, said she was delighted at receiving the award from Ginerosity. “I was ecstatic, was really, really happy. I’ve never had a grant before. So it was completely new, and meant I completed my fundraising target.”

Kyle Cousins, from South Lanarkshire, said the Ginerosity award had been a “massive confidence boost” and he was even more excited about the trip as the opportunity to attain the CMI qualification meant he would gain more from the experience.

Katie Roberts, from Merseyside, said she would not have been able to achieve the CMI qualification without Ginerosity’s help, adding that it would be an enormous boost to her CV and give her a step up while trying to find a job, while Sarah Hamilton, from Leicester, said she “expected the experience to open up further opportunities”.

Cameron McIntosh, from Essex, said: “I’m feeling really excited and cannot wait to begin the Zambian adventure! I hope the experience will help the lives of the people I will be working with and improve my skills, knowledge and understanding.”

Find out more about Ginerosity HERE.

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