Waterford company to 'help people do more, feel better and live longer'

GSK, one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, has launched a new Community Investment Fund initiative in Dungarvan, County Waterford, which aims to promote health and well-being in the local community.

The purpose of the initiative is to help people do more, feel better and live longer.

GSK employs 1,700 people across four locations in Ireland - Cork, Dublin, Sligo and Waterford – and the Community Investment Fund is open to applications from organisations who are working in the communities surrounding the GSK site at Dungarvan.

Funding is available to community groups which operate in the areas of health and well-being, scientific education, environmental protection or with GSK employee involvement. The deadline for applications is 5pm on Saturday 15th September and interested organisations can apply here. 

A strict judging process will follow and the successful applicants will be announced in November. “At GSK, we believe our mission to help people do more, feel better and live longer starts at home. Our Community Investment Fund is just one of the many ways we want to make a difference in our local community and ultimately play our part in making Dungarvan a great place to live and work. People are at the heart of what we do because healthy people make healthy communities and healthy communities are at the heart of strong societies. GSK pursues this mission not only through the medicines, vaccines and products we develop and manufacture, but also through a wide variety of community programmes we support,” says Brian Fox, site director at GSK Dungarvan.

In the past, GSK has supported various community programmes including:

• GSK Ireland Impact Awards - Recognises small and medium sized community-based healthcare charities in Ireland. Each year GSK donates a total of €60,000 to winning charities. To date, GSK has given €170,000 in unrestricted grants to Irish healthcare charities as part of the programme.
• Barretstown, a Serious Fun camp - GSK has been supporting Barretstown for more than 20 years through employee volunteering and donations. Since 1994, GSK has provided over €8m in funding to Barretstown.
• Making a Difference Fund - Rewarding employee volunteering. All GSK Ireland employees who volunteer a minimum of eight hours per year in the community can apply for a donation of €500 to the charity or community group they volunteer with.
• Employee Volunteering - All GSK Ireland employees receive a gift of one day every year to volunteer with a charity or community group of their choice.
• Employee Fundraising - GSK Ireland employees have raised thousands of euros for charities including the Irish Hospice Foundation, Make A Wish and lots of other great charities through employee fundraising initiatives.