In 2008, in response to requests from employees for new ways to help our communities, we launched 'Giving for Good', a website that will rally Diageo employees to raise funds for a different good cause each year.
For the first 18 months, the focus was on a number of schools and clinics close to Kampala, Uganda whose water supply is not suitable for drinking. On the Giving for Good website, employees were able to donate money - either their own or funds raised through sponsorship or team events - to buy £10 water filter kits, each of which can provide clean water for up to 25 people for a year. By the end of December 2009 over £50,000 had been pledged for the cause.
Sustainability is an important factor in order to make community projects work and thrive within developing communities. The project was designed so that water filters and replacement elements will continue to be affordable and available when the Giving for Good water project moves to a new country in March 2010.