Lifes2good Foundation Home Vision Values Strategic Priorities Board Supporting Lifes2good Foundation invests in effective organisations that can make a positive impact on people’s lives. In the foundation’s first strategic plan (2018 – 2022) we are primarily supporting organisations that help empower and educate women and children and increase the impact of community-based initiatives in accordance with the principles of equality and non-discrimination. There will be a shift of emphasis in our second strategic plan (2023 – 2027). Strategic planning for this has started. The primary focus in the new plan will be on climate change and environmental issues. Current News 1st October 2021 Lifes2good Foundation is a member of the UNICEF Corporate Vaccine Alliance. Why does vaccine equity matter to us? …. History is not made by one, but by the collective. We are calling for leadership from corporate Ireland to unite with us and join the UNICEF Corporate Vaccine Alliance. We stand at a pivotal moment – the race between vaccines and variants. Equity is key to ending the pandemic and rebuilding our global economy. Every country plays a role, and the race to end COVID-19 is on, but there are no winners or losers – we either all win or we all lose – the success and speed of developed countries’ economic recoveries from COVID-19 is dependent on the recovery of developing nations. A collaborative approach is fundamental in helping to bring the pandemic under control. Join us at unicef.ie/alliance 6th September 2021 Lifes2good Foundation supports a multi annual education programme in rural Afghanistan. The schools we support are now temporarily closed. Our operational partners, on the ground in Afghanistan, are safe and well. We will be discussing the future of the programme with them in the coming weeks and months. 6th September 2021 Lifes2good Foundation supports UNICEF in the drive to get the developing world vaccinated On Friday 21st April 2021, Lifes2good Foundation founders, staff and Board joined the #GoPurple campaign to help raise awareness and funds for Domestic Abuse Services CEO, Maurice McQuillan dons “purple” amidst the cherry blossoms. Board Member, Denis Killian, paints everything except the dog purple! Co-founder, James Murphy, steals the show with the purple shoes. Background of Lifes2good Foundation After selling the highly successful Viviscal brand in 2017 James and Maria Murphy decided that the time was right for them to “give something back”. James and Maria decided to use a portion of the money they had made to help improve the lives of others. They decided to focus primarily on Galway and the west of Ireland, but in recognition of global inequality they furthermore decided to work in two developing countries. It was also decided that the initial sectoral focus would be on women and children in situations of vulnerability. Lifes2good Foundation was born in September 2017! Vision Lifes2good Foundation envisions a world where all women and children can live in dignity, fulfilling their potential, in vibrant communities, sustained by commitment and innovation. Values The top value that guides our own behavior as a Foundation is “integrity” or “knowing what is right”. We will also be: COMMITTED: Set high standards for your behavior and stick to them, even when difficult. COURAGEOUS: Stand up for what you believe is just and good. HONEST: Choose words and actions that are sincere, not misleading. DISCIPLINED: Remain dedicated and self-controlled, even when challenged. RESILIENT: Learn from mistakes and losses; seize the opportunity to improve. The top value that guides us in the work that we do, and the partners we support, is respect for the dignity of the individual. Every individual is worthy of respect and has the right to live free from exploitation, regardless of race, beliefs, nationality or social circumstance. We should be prepared to protect the dignity of the individual, where it is threatened, and also to help create the enabling society that can ensure dignity for all and facilitate potential being realised. Lifes2good Foundation Strategic Priorities 2018-2022 Recognising the importance of understanding the context and dynamics of domestic and sexual violence, we want to support the education and empowerment of women and girls. Recognising the role of attitudes to domestic and sexual violence in hindering progress towards its reduction we want to positively influence attitudes in Ireland to domestic violence, sexual-based violence and consent and relationships, particularly amongst boys and young men. Recognising the high levels of domestic and sexual violence we want to help protect and support women and children who are currently in situations of vulnerability. Recognising the value of social entrepreneurship, we want to support imaginative people, to nurture exciting ideas, to impact on current social issues in Irish communities. Recognising the positive influence of sport and music in Irish communities we want to widen access and participation particularly amongst girls and young women. Click here to view Lifes2good Foundation Strategic Plan 2018-2022 The Board of Lifes2good Foundation Chairman: James Murphy Members of the Board: Zhanna O’Clery, Conor Murphy, Dearbhla Fitzsimons, Eoin McKeon, Maria Murphy, Denis Killian, Heather Pope and Bernard Kirk Company Secretary: Tom O’Donnell Chief Executive Officer: Maurice McQuillan James Murphy Maria Murphy Zhanna O’Clery Eoin McKeon Bernard Kirk Heather Pope Conor Murphy Tom O’Donnell Denis Killian Dearbhla Fitzsimons Maurice McQuillan Programmes supported by Lifes2good Foundation L2GF Annual Report 2018, submitted 24th October 2019 L2GF Annual Report 2019, submitted 27th October 2020 Girls education in Malawi Lifes2good Foundation supports the education of 1,900 girls in rural Malawi in a large multiannual programme. In partnership with CAMFED we are tackling the most urgent issues for girls and young women in rural Malawi – addressing their systematic exclusion from secondary education and their lack of opportunity for economic empowerment post-school. James Murphy, Chairman and founder of Lifes2good Foundation, with pupil mentors at Myamadzere Community day Secondary School, in Nsanje in southern Malawi, near the Mozambique border, on a monitoring visit in December 2019. Changing attitudes and behaviours around “consent” and sexual violence Lifes2good Foundation is involved in an ambitious four-year programme with National University of Ireland Galway. This is a groundbreaking programme of 6 actions aimed at transforming the national landscape when it comes to how young people learn about, and become skilled in, managing sexual consent and sexual violence. The programme is turning high-quality research into practical tools that can make an immediate impact on attitudes and behaviors. Minister of State for Higher Education, Mary Mitchell O’Connor TD, President of NUI Galway, Professor Ciarán Ó hÓgartaigh, with students of NUI Galway, launching the Active Consent programme in January 2019. Supporting Galway Rape Crisis Centre to deliver a comprehensive programme of support to survivors of rape and sexual violence Lifes2good Foundation is working with Galway Rape Crisis Centre in a multi-annual programme to support the Rape Crisis Centre to deliver both post event counselling as well as more general educative work in schools and with young people around relationships, attitudes to sex and sexual violence. The Foundation is also supporting the Rape Crisis Centre to refurbish their building in the Claddagh into a fit for purpose premises to deliver this comprehensive service. Maurice McQuillan, CEO Lifes2good Foundation, with Cathy Connolly, Executive Director, Galway Rape Crisis Centre, signing the first grant agreement on 27th April 2018, to support the delivery of an adolescent counselling service Supporting COPE Galway to build a fit for purpose shelter for women in Galway at the site of the old Magdalen Laundry (now Modh Eile House) This investment in the refurbishment of the old Magdalen Laundry is changing the way Galway can support its most vulnerable women and children. The new facility has a mix of one and two bedroomed units, with cooking facilities and can accommodate nine women and twenty-four children. The complex also incorporates a state of the art childcare unit (more than half of the people who turn to COPE for assistance are children). This new facility raises the standard of domestic violence services not just in Galway, but in Ireland. James and Maria Murphy (co-founders of Lifes2good Foundation) with Jacqui Horan (CEO COPE Galway) and Noel Murphy (site manager) on a site visit to “Modh EIle” on 19th November 2019 Set up and sustain, 8 primary schools in remote, mountainous villages in Afghanistan where otherwise there would be no education In a four-year multi-annual programme Lifes2good Foundation is working with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) as part of a broader initiative to increase access to education across three rural provinces in Afghanistan. Read More It would not be culturally appropriate to run girls only schools in rural Afghanistan, but 50% of the pupils in the schools supported by Lifes2good Foundation are girls, and this is seen as an achievement in the context. Maurice McQuillan, CEO Lifes2good Foundation, visits a classroom, in a Lifes2good Foundation school, in the mountainous village of Mindiyak in Bamiyan province in Afghanistan. In 2020 schools closed for many months in Afghanistan due to Covid-19. Lifes2good Foundation partner, CRS, continued to deliver hard copy education packages into the remote mountainous villages so that some form of learning could continue. Lifes2good Foundation also agreed with CRS to divert some budget lines to allow vital hygiene messages to be developed for, and delivered to, the same remote communities. The same message was as important in the mountains of Afghanistan, as it was in Ireland ….. “Wash your hands”! Run an Academy for budding social entrepreneurs in the west of Ireland In collaboration with Social Entrepreneurs Ireland, Lifes2good Foundation supports a Connacht Academy for nascent social entrepreneurs. This programme is designed to support individuals at the earliest stage of their journey, with an entrepreneurial mindset, who wish to develop an idea to solve a social problem in Ireland. The aim of this programme is to provide individuals with the support they need to move from ideation to action. In 2020 a survey of past participants of the Academy West was carried out and it revealed that over 80% of participants are “up and running” and rolling out their idea one to two years post programme. Maria Murphy, co-founder of Lifes2good Foundation participated as a judge in the selection process (Bootcamp) for the 2019 Connacht Academy for social entrepreneurs In 2020, due to Covid-19 all workshops had to pivot to an on-line platform Denis Killian, from the board of Lifes2good Foundation, with Paul O’Donnell and Cathy Coote of “ReCycle your Cycle – An Mheitheal Rothair”. ReCycle Your Cycle is the award winning initiative to repair bikes sent for scrap to Galway City Council’s waste depot. In 2019, ReCycle Your Cycle won a place on the Social Entrepreneurs Ireland Academy, going on to win the top award for the Connacht region. Support girls and young women’s participation in sport and music Lifes2good Foundation recognises the positive influence of sport and music in Irish communities. We want to widen access and participation particularly amongst girls and young women. The foundation is supporting Maoin Cheoil na Gaillimhe to set up and run a city-wide Galway School of music, to bring music out to the children via their national schools rather than construct one central building which children would have to travel in to attend. Read More Lifes2good Foundation video, used on social media, to promote interest in the Galway footballers when they reached the All Ireland final, after the Galway camogie team had won the All Ireland. (Thanks to “Along Came a Spider” for the production). © 2021 Lifes2good Foundation Geata Na Cathrach, Fairgreen Road, Galway, H91 W26K Registered Charity # 20165314 CHY # 22091 Lifes2good Foundation is in compliance with the Charities Governance Code, as issued by the Charities Regulator, and with Philanthropy Ireland’s good donorship commitments in relation to managing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.