GIY Annual Report 2016 Letter from the CEO Michael Kelly Momentum. If I was asked to pick one word to describe GIY, then perhaps momentum would be the most appropriate one. It seems like ever since the first GIY group meeting back in 2008 The perpetual momentum and forward movement is a hallmark of we’ve been constantly moving forward. Each year we’ve grown who we are but it has one obvious downside– there’s never much bigger, reached more people, added more GIY groups, hired more time to take a breath and reflect on all we’ve achieved. This staff, raised more funds to do our work. annual report allows us the opportunity to do that. In putting it together, I am struck again and again by just how busy it’s been, 2016 was certainly consistent in that respect, but it’s also fair to and how much we’ve collectively achieved. say that the leap forward we took as an organisation was on a different level altogether. 2016 was truly, a landmark year for us. Though I am often the one to get the plaudits, the work that you To my mind, it has been characterized by two key things – firstly will read about in the coming pages is a monumental effort from a we put down roots by opening GROW HQ in Waterford, and group of truly remarkable people. I am so proud of the team that secondly we spread our wings by running two major campaigns in works in GIY and honoured to work with them. In creating a the UK. culture for our organization we’ve often said that we want working for GIY to feel like working on a cool project with your Of course, the highlight of 2016 has to be that we opened the friends. I think we achieve that, most of the time at any rate. doors of GROW HQ in October. It feels like a long time since we first came up with the idea to create a home for the GIY We are also indebted to the hundreds of change-makers that run movement, but in reality it was only a 4 year whirlwind of GIY groups and projects in communities around Ireland, the UK fundraising, design and construction activity, which is not a long and beyond. They are the foundation on which we’ve built our time really. I am hugely grateful to everyone who was involved. house. Waterford City Council for donating the site, our project manager Finally, I would also like to thank the board of GIY (led by Gary Anne Harpur, our architects Solearth, builders Tom O’Brien and all Graham) for their passion and commitment, and for challenging the other members of the design and build team. But also to our and supporting me at every turn. many funders – literally hundreds of people, organisations and companies contributed everything from small donations to large Happy Growing grants and everything in between. We couldn’t have done it Michael without them. It is with great pride and not a small dollop of humility that I write these few words for GIY’s first “proper” annual report. GIY has grown into a dynamic and highly professional and effective organisation over its first 9 years but last year GIY also grew up! We are lucky to have a founder with superior communication skills but with the opening of Grow HQ we tripled our employee numbers to almost thirty and the number of stakeholders, investors and suppliers has increased exponentially. So as a grown up, with all the added responsibilities, the time has come for GIY to communicate its achievements, its finances, its objectives and its policies in the time-honoured format of an annual report. Firstly, as chairman, I want to declare that we are privileged to have a hard working and committed board of directors who have supported and guided Mick Kelly and his team through an exciting and sometimes highly stressful time which culminated in the opening of Grow HQ at the end of 2016. And while the physical manifestation of GIY’s ambitious plans into Grow HQ is a huge milestone and a solid base for GIY’s global impact, it is not the be all and end all. To my mind, the greatest achievement to date is not the construction of the beautiful building but the building of a beautiful team of people who will ensure that GIY will be a force to reckon with and a force for good for decades to come. No man is an island, not even the multi-talented GIY founder and the GIY management team has all the skills required to run the smartest of operations. On behalf of the board of directors I commend GIY for an outstanding year of achievements and proffer a green-fingered salute Letter from the Chairperson – Gary Graham to the dedicated and passionate management team who continue to surprise and delight us all. Gary WE ARE GIY We’re building a healthier, happier and more sustainable world where people grow some of their own food. Why We Do What We Do Our Strategy The way the food chain currently operates has profound When people grow some of their own food they develop a deeper implications for our health and the health of our planet. understanding and connection with food which GIY calls ‘food empathy’. For the first time in human history the number of diet-related diseases has surpassed that of infectious diseases. Over 2 billion Research shows that people who grow some of their own food people globally are overweight or obese. Ireland has the highest have better diets and eating habits; show higher levels of rate of obesity in children under 5 in the EU. knowledge about nutrition; recycle and compost more, and waste less food. GIYing is a proven lever to a healthier, happier and The global food system is responsible for up to one-third of more sustainable lifestyle. So, we’re all about getting people to human-caused greenhouse gas emissions, and a major contributor grow some food. to climate change. In Ireland over 90% of fruit and vegetables consumed are imported, two-thirds of which could be grown here. We are GIY The Founding Story GIY is an emerging global movement of people who grow some of their own food at home, school, work and in the community. We Michael Kelly worked in the IT business for ten years, but his life are passionate believers in the power of food growing experiences changed the day he noticed that a bulb of garlic he was about to to really reconnect people to their food in meaningful ways and buy in his local supermarket was imported from China. He started put them on a path to a healthier, happier and more sustainable growing his own food (badly..) which restored his relationship with life. food and made him healthy, happy and more sustainable. GIY is focused on creating a positive, empowering, disruptive In 2008, he established a “GIY group” locally so he could meet and change in the food system by creating a mass movement of people learn from other amateur food growers. In 2009 he started GIY to who have more food empathy, and make better food decisions. inspire and support others to grow their own food. Strategic Objectives and Activities Strategic Objectives 2016-2019 Core Activities 1. Supporting people to grow food wherever they call home with awareness and skills campaigns, online resources and 1. Grow an engaged, vibrant and networked community local community supports. of GIY groups and projects in Ireland and the UK. 2. Supporting a network of local champions to put food 2. Devise, promote and deliver a suite of engaging, growing back at the centre of their communities by creating participatory education and awareness campaigns, GIY groups and projects, e.g. GIY groups; community events, courses and resources to inspire and support gardens, schools projects, cottage markets etc. people to grow food. 3. National awareness campaigns to encourage adults and 3. Make GROW HQ a thriving centre of excellence for children to grow food at home, school, work and in the homegrown food, a food education centre, the home community. of the GIY movement and a place where people can immerse themselves in growing, cooking and eating 4. Attending national events to promote food growing and homegrown food. food empathy. 4. Create a best-in-class, financially sustainable, well 5. GROW HQ - a home for the GIY movement and a place resourced, funded and governed organisation to where people can immerse in the GIY lifestyle and grow, support our strategic objectives. cook and eat home-grown food. 6. Promoting food growing as a therapeutic device for disadvantaged groups. How We’re Funded GIY is a not-for-profit social enterprise and a company limited by guarantee (CLG) that currently employs 29 people in Waterford. Our turnover in 2017 will be approximately €1,150,000. We raise this income through: • GROW HQ – our food education and retail centre in Waterford City and online shop. • Working with partners such as The Ireland Funds, The Community Foundation, innocent, Energia, Bord Bia, Ulster Bank, Aramark and Cully & Sully to create food growing programmes. • GIY@Work – corporate wellness programme training employees to grow food at work as a lever to a healthier and more sustainable lifestyle. • GIY Supporters o Retail Friends – contributions from relevant retailers to advertise and feature in GIY publications in print and online. o GIY Member Scheme – GIYers pay €35 per annum to receive our quarterly magazine GROW as well as other resources to help them to grow food.