The story of TEN Foundations is a story of an ordinary man with an extraordinary vision. In 2011, Belfast man, Ian Campbell, went on a holiday to the Philippines. There he fell in love with the country, the culture and the people, but soon realised there was another side with many people living in terrible poverty. On his return to Ireland, Ian started researching in more detail the extent of the problems affecting millions of Filipinos, struggling every day just to survive , and Ten Foundations was born . Since then we have impacted the lives of dozens of women from the Balayan region in the Philippines, and by the extension of their children and extended families, hundreds of people in their community.
Ten Foundations supports vulnerable children, adults and families living in the Philippines.We began by raising money to build orphanages for children in the Philippines, but quickly realised that we were not reaching the root of any problem. We realised the heart of the issue was that mothers were unable to provide for their children as they didn't have the necessary skills.
So, we adapted. Our focus is not on raising money for the short-term, but instead work towards a sustainable future by providing the women with lifelong skills that can help them earn money in ways they would otherwise be unable to.
ALL the money from the sale of our bags goes to the livelihood programme. By purchasing our school bags you are ensuring our workers get paid a decent wage. We pay their health insurance (PhilHealth) and social security. For many of the women we employ it is the first time they will have had health insurance for themselves and their children. They get a free breakfast before starting work and a free lunch. We provide crèche facilities and after school care for the worker’s children.
The difference between our foundation and many others is that we, as purely volunteers from all walks of life, make no income whatsoever from the sale of our schoolbags - every pound goes straight back to the livelihood programme in the Philippines.
Through the livelihood centre, we provide training and employment to 60 seamstresses and employ an additional 10 people to run the centre.
Everyone , including staff ,come from extremely poor backgrounds , with no skill and limited education.
