Hugh Jackman
THE Wolverine actor, 49, first stuck his talons into social enterprise in 2011 after a trip to Ethiopia. There, he helped out a farmer for a day and saw coffee being traded, sparking an interest in fair trade, which ensures growers get a fair price for their crop. Laughing Man coffee was founded in 2011 to trade directly with growers, with a coffee shop opening in New York. Next came a tie-up with Keurig, a popular coffee machine in the United States. Laughing Man coffee is available in 1,800 stores across the United States.
Rosario Dawson
THE 38-year-old star of Sin City launched her social enterprise, Studio 189, with best friend Abrima Erwiah in 2013, after travelling in Africa. It sells clothes handmade in Ghana, with a focus on African patterns and fabrics. Studio 189 is part of the United Nations Ethical Fashion Initiative, which aims to build an industry in which workers earn a living wage in good conditions while also protecting the environment.
Pharrell Williams
THE 44-year-old Grammy award-winning US producer-performer has been creative director of social enterprise Bionic since 2010. It takes plastic, then shreds, heats and spins it into two types of yarn that are used to make everything from jeans to roof linings. It has partnered charity Waterkeeper’s Alliance to use plastic found in the sea and washed up on the coast. The United Nations has warned that if current pollution rates continue, there will be more plastic in the sea than fish by 2050.
Michael Sheen
IT was at Social Saturday – an annual event that encourages people to spend money on goods and services that have a positive social impact – that the Welsh actor declared his interest in social enterprise. In April this year, it was reported that the 48-year-old actor, famous for his role in Oscar-nominated film Frost/Nixon, would become a patron of industry body Social Enterprise UK. At an awards event recently, he said he would launch his social enterprise some time this year. He plans to start a “community hub” in Port Talbot in Wales to help people start community-owned businesses as threats to the steel industry have put jobs at risk.
Jamie Oliver
THE 42-year-old celebrity chef started his restaurant Fifteen in London in 2002 when he was 26. It was named after the number of disadvantaged young people he attempted to train as chefs there. Other Fifteen restaurants also opened in Amsterdam and Cornwall in south-west Britain. More than 500 chefs have been trained, with 80% of them still working in kitchens. – Reuters
