Stripe/Diageo Learning For Life programme

Red Stripe has a strong tradition of sustainable investment in the social welfare of Jamaican communities. The company continues to work in enhancing its relationships with stakeholders.

The fantastic roll-out of a series of Diageo's Learning for Life (DL4L) community training programmes the tireless work of our employees through Red Stripe Employees Advocates of Care and Hope (REACH) and its staff volunteer group were the landmark philanthropic achievements of its 2010 financial year.

Over the past year, DL4L programmes moved from impacting 80 lives in 2010 to over 1,700 this year.These participants have now been fully trained with transferable skills, and have been awarded National Vocational Qualification (NVQJ) certification, which allows for either self-employment or job placement.

On Thursday, June 30 over 650 participants graduated from the programme. These graduates were trained in Project Bartender,Project Entrepreneur(Design and Construction) orProject Tourism.

According to Marguerite Cremin, head of corporate relations at Red Stripe, the company's success hinges on its consumers.

"Red Stripe's success depends greatly on the economic stability of the citizens in our communities and the strength of the great relationships we have cultivated through our DL4L and REACH projects. This year we have made a huge step in helping to, change over 1500 lives," Cremin said.

DL4L entails a variety of skills training programmes in which participants may choose to get certified according to their field of interest. Project Bartender,Project Entrepreneur (Design and Construction) and Project Tourism (Housekeeping, Grounds Maintenance/Landscaping, General Office Administration, Customer Service, Supervisory Management and Food & Beverage Service) are all powered by the strengths and competencies of Red Stripe's staff.

strong partnerships

The DL4L programmes are funded by Desnoes & Geddes and the Diageo Foundation, which are given much support by strong partnerships with educational and training institutions including the Institute for Workforce Education & Development, the Bars To Go Training Institute and the Social Development Commission.

"We have also seen much support from the Ministries of Tourism; Information, Culture, Youth and Sports; the Office of the Prime Minister and the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association through a wide range of endorsements," Cremin added.

The primary objective ofProject Entrepreneur was to engage 120 residents in a personal economic repositioning strategy to ultimately strengthen micro businesses in these communities.

Construction

Construction,whichfocused on plumbing and tile-laying as well as Project Design,which covered the areas of Soft-Furnishings and Drapery-making, were the main focus of Project Entrepreneur executed in partnership with HEART Trust NTA Portmore and GARMEX Academies.

This year, they launched the second cohort of Project Bartender and took the show on the road in partnership with the Bars to Go Training Institute and Trade Winds Citrus, Limited. The $7-million project launched island-wide, trained 200 bartenders over six weeks in a widely relevant curriculum including: Customer Service, Bar Operation, the Preparation and Service of non alcohol and alcohol beverage and responsible drinking. The expanded programme trained residents in Montego Bay, Ocho Rios, Negril, Port Antonio and Mandeville and was also rolled-out to 20 University of the West Indies (UWI) students as part of the UWI Health Centre's Safe and Responsible Drinking programme.

The graduates now have a success story and are nothing short of grateful for the impact the programmes have had on their families and communities at large. Marlon Dunkley, who was awarded Most Improved Student inProject entrepreneur'sPlumbing Class ofMarch 2011 expressed, "When I heard, I was overwhelmed, tears ran down my face as I walked to the stage. To top it all, Mayor Desmond McKenzie offered me a plumbing position as I walked off the stage. Red Stripe changed my life. It has made a huge difference and a real turnover for me and my family."

Ryan Mitto, 31, and class valedictorian for March 2011, could perhaps have had a very different life had he not been a part of Diageo's skills training initiative. It was while job hunting that Mitto was asked by a friend to temporarily oversee the bar in his restaurant.

"I didn't know how to mix anything, I would Google search every time someone ordered, and the customers got frustrated. Then one daya few Red Stripe employees came for a function. My service was terrible, but instead of getting upset, they told me about Project Bartender.That completely changed my life," he recalled.

Mitto, with his new outlook on life and a job with the Bars-to-Go Group of Companies, is very grateful for the exposure. "I never dreamed I could be the valedictorian for anything, or speak to the Minister of Education, or be interviewed on television. Diageo's Learning for Life has given me more than a skill, for the first time in my life I have found an area where I can excel," he says.

The successes of the Learning for Life programmes have caught international attention as theOrganization of American States:Trust for the Americasnamed Diageo Latin America and the Caribbean (the region under which Red Stripe falls) the winner of the 2010 Corporate Citizen of the Americas Award in the education category. The award recognizes the company for initiating an innovative programme, which benefits the community in which it operates and which serves as a model for socially responsible practices.