0xffh: ToughStuff Teams up with ONEforONE

ToughStuff Teams up with ONEforONE

Social enterprises form new partnership to supply clean energy in Europe and in Africa.

(PRWeb UK) November 24, 2010

Two social enterprises, ONEforONE and ToughStuff International, have joined forces to create a new way for Dutch consumers to buy clean, green energy and, at the same time, help people in developing countries to benefit from solar power.

ONEforONE, which launched in Holland this week, is part of a growing movement to provide direct support to developing countries by linking a purchase in a Western country to a benefit in a developing nation of a similar product.

One such product marketed by ONEforONE is energy from Greenchoice, the only company in The Netherlands supplying electricity generated solely from renewable sources. Every time a consumer signs up for Greenchoice via ONEforONE, ONEforONE will make a donation to support ToughStuff, a social enterprise which supplies affordable portable solar panels, lamps and chargers to some of the world’s poorest people.

ONEforONE’s founder, Wouter Durville, is confident that there is a clear market in the developed world for consumers who want to do the right thing and are delighted to provide a helping hand to people in the developing world too. He said; “The concept of Buy One, Fund One is already well-established in the United States and I’m certain it will also be embraced by Dutch consumers who want to do something concrete for people in the developing world”.

ONEforONE, and their partnership with ToughStuff, is part of a global trend towards responsible consumption with social and environmental benefits, becoming ever popular. In its first day, ONEforONE already had more than 2,300 followers on Twitter and Facebook who’ve all pledged their loyalty to the organisation.

Roger Hattam, ToughStuff’s general manager, said: “We are delighted to announce our partnership with ONEforONE, an organisation with a business model whose time has come. ONEforONE provides consumers with the ability to make a positive choice not once but twice; by making the right sustainable energy choice for themselves, but also in helping to transform the lives of the poorest people on the globe.”

The funding from ONEforONE will support ToughStuff’s Solar Village Entrepreneur (SVE) programme. This provides microloans and training for SVEs to establish small, profitable businesses, on average a more than 300% increase on local average annual income so they are able to lift their own family from poverty as well as providing solar power to people who need it most.

Over the past 15 months, with the help of its SVEs, ToughStuff has brought clean and affordable energy to over 425,000 people in the developing world and saved its customers more than 3 million Euros and 2,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions.

1.46 billion people in developing countries have no access to electricity. Until now, for many, their only lighting has been kerosene lamps or candles which are polluting, cause lung diseases and waste money. ToughStuff’s products are an alternative providing clean, affordable lighting that’s good for people’s health, wealth and the environment.

ONEforONE is not dependent on grants and donations. The funding it gives to organisations such as ToughStuff is generated by negotiating discounts on the products it is marketing - and by offering businesses a straightforward method of achieving their corporate social responsibility aims.

So far, ONEforONE has focussed on basic survival needs such as energy and water. It has also linked up with PumpAid to help in the construction of wells in developing countries. ONEforONE has ambitions to broaden its offer to other products including, for example, health insurance where Western consumers would cover a person in Africa for free. ENDS

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact:
Wouter Durville, ONEforONE BV | Vijzelstraat 72 | 1017HL Amsterdam | Tel: 06-50251780 E info(at)oneforone(dot)nl | http://www. oneforone. nl
Roger Hattam +44 (0) 20 72610983 +44 7768 801174 (m) Roger(dot)hattam(at)ToughStuffonline(dot)com http://www. ToughStuffonline. com

Ros Dawson +44 (0) 1274 561241 +44 7720 882512 (m) ros(at)rosdawsonmedia(dot)co(dot)uk

ONEforONE was founded by Wouter Durville (1980). After completing his Bachelor of Liberal Arts at University College Utrecht and the Master of European Studies at Cambridge University, he worked as a manager at Heineken and Bain & Company. In 2005 he founded Netherlands Cares, a volunteer organization for young professionals with offices in 5 cities and thousands of affiliated volunteers.

Video about ONEforONE :

Http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=qXCuk-QXEvo&feature=player_embedded

ToughStuff’s founders: biographies

Andrew Tanswell is a social entrepreneur; the CEO and joint founder of ToughStuff. He trained as an engineer and later worked as a management consultant building up his own niche change management consultancy firm. His international relief and development experience includes working with Medair in Iraq and Somalia as well as providing strategy and business development advice to large charities. He was the Executive Director for Micah Challenge UK before founding ToughStuff, a social business which aims to lift millions of people out of poverty through enterprise. Andrew was one of the winners of the 2009 Global Social Business Incubator for Social Entrepreneurs sponsored by the Skoll Foundation.

Adriaan Mol is an aid worker turned social entrepreneur and joint founder of ToughStuff. His awards include Winner of Global Social Benefit Incubator, Santa Clara University, California, 2006 and Winner of World Bank global Development Marketplace award, 2005 for BushProof, a social-enterprise that became a forerunner in the field of innovative drinking water supply. Adriaan has many years experience in organizational and strategic management of NGOs. His areas of expertise include design, implementation and evaluation of relief and development projects in Africa and Asia, including (civil) war and natural disaster situations. He also has technical expertise in (emergency) water supply, rural (social) marketing, well drilling, appropriate technology, and entrepreneurial approaches to poverty reduction including base of the pyramid (BoP) business.

How ToughStuff can change lives: Tahiry a Solar Village Entrepreneur.
In Madagascar, Tahiry Ramoa, aged 25, a recent university graduate could not find employment. He raised money from his family to become one of the first ToughStuff Solar Village Entrepreneurs (SVE). The SVE program enables entrepreneurs to create a livelihood by providing solar energy solutions within their community. Tahiry started with 30 solar panels and lamps, which he hired out to villagers. For the same price as they would usually spend on candles or kerosene, his customers have a light that is brighter, healthier and safer. After his first week he returned to the ToughStuff office to buy more, “The students are angry with me that I don’t have enough lights for them all. They need light to study!” Tahiry now has 2 employees and 115 solar kits – lighting over 10% of the village. One of the employees recently noted: “ToughStuff has become so ingrained in the village that I can’t imagine life without it.”

ToughStuff’s Buy One Fund One campaign provides loans and support to entrepreneurs like Tahiry but who are not able to self-fund. This is a link to a low resolution video about Tahiry http://www. youtube. com/watch? v=0ImMvmODA6w

Monday, February 27, 2006

ToughStuff Teams up with ONEforONE