The Guinness brewery has been an integral part of The Liberties community since it opened in 1759 and its legacy in the locality is strong. “We’ve been located in Dublin 8 at St James’s Gate for 267 years and we’ve always been active participants in The Liberties community,” says Shane Kelly, director of corporate relations at Diageo. “It’s our home and we’re proud of it.” To strengthen that legacy, Diageo, Guinness and the Guinness Storehouse have announced plans to award grants of €1 million to a variety of community organisations in Dublin 8 over the next five years as part of the Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund. “It’s about being an active participant in our own community and supporting those organisations and people who are making a difference,” says Kelly.The fund focuses on projects that improve access to education, strengthen community connection, and promote climate action, ensuring the benefits are felt by future generations and create lasting change.This year alone, almost €500,000 is being awarded to 18 different community organisations in the Dublin 8 area. Among those benefiting include a local boxing club, a community garden project, residents’ associations, an integration programme, and early education and sustainability initiatives.A substantial part of the money being awarded this year was raised at The Lovely Days Festival, a three-day live music event, which took place in the grounds of the Guinness brewery on James’s Street last summer. “It’s not every day you get to attend a music festival in the heart of a 267-year-old city centre brewery,” he says, “it was an intimate, once-in-a-lifetime gig that everyone enjoyed.”Acts such as CMAT, Fontaines DC and Barry Can’t Swim played to almost 2,500 people each day. “It was very special and a great way to turn a music event into something long term, meaningful and impactful, ensuring that we carry our established legacy forward,” Kelly adds.Shane Kelly, director of corporate relations at Diageo All of the proceeds from the festival went into the Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund pot, which has also benefited from fundraising activities carried out by Diageo staff. “Our employees contributed over 1,000 hours of volunteering, doing things like working at the Capuchin Day Centre, the Little Flower Penny dinners and getting involved in the Junior Achievement Award,” said Kelly. “It’s part of an ingrained cultural approach that stems from being part of this community and we want to do everything we can to ensure it thrives.”The rest of the €1 million will be rolled out over the next four years and each year there will be a call for new applicants. “We work in partnership with Community Foundation Ireland to ensure we have proper governance and structures around the application processes and the vetting of organisations,” he says. “There are many wonderful organisations doing amazing work in Dublin 8 and it’s often unseen. It’s great to be able to recognise and support that work. It feels like a tangible way to support the community. Dublin 8 is as much a part of Guinness as Guinness is to Dublin 8. It’s pretty much part of our DNA.”One organisation benefiting from this year’s fund is St Catherine’s Community Boxing Club, on Marrowbone Lane in Dublin 8, which will receive €75,000.‘For many years, The Liberties Community Festival had a boxing ring in Newmarket Square which was the highlight of the summer for many. The fund will help to revive events such as this’— Liz Duffy, The Liberties Community ProjectIt was founded in 2008 by head coach Ronald “Ronnie” Byrne after he witnessed the positive impact of a community boxing club event on young adults. “I saw how much it benefited them and on how much enjoyment they got from it,” he says. “The idea was to get them off the streets and taking part in a healthy, fun activity.”The club now caters for about 70 people, most of whom are young adults. It’s open to those aged eight and upwards and also runs classes for those with additional needs. It recently held a 10-week training challenge, attended by a young mother of a two-year-old child. “She was starting to get some time to herself – and it was wonderful to see the positive effect the challenge had on her,” Byrne says.Irish lightweight champion boxer Kellie McLoughlin now trains at the club, and another young boxer with additional needs has since gone on to compete in mainstream boxing after training at the club.Despite its success, the club relies solely on volunteers such as Byrne, to run it. To provide more classes and open it up to other age groups, however, it requires more volunteers. “All of our volunteers have families and many work full time, so it’s a lot to ask of them to volunteer in their free time,” Byrne says.The Guinness Dublin 8 Community Fund grant will allow them to pay volunteers, and this will help open St Catherine’s to more people, including older adults, some of whom live in apartments locally and don’t get a chance to exercise. “We’ll also be able to facilitate more classes,” Byrne says. “The fund is a fantastic initiative, which will have big impact and we’re most grateful for it.”Boxers Liz Duffy and Ronald "Ronnie" Byrne, representing The Liberties Community Project. Photograph: Julien Behal Liz Duffy, of The Liberties Community Project, an umbrella organisation for numerous local groups such as local school projects, bee keeping, walking tours and community development, agrees the funding will have a big impact on the Dublin 8 community. “For many years, The Liberties Community Festival had a boxing ring in Newmarket Square which was the highlight of the summer for many,” says Duffy. “The fund will help to revive events such as this, and initiate others. Much of the focus will be on events for mothers of young children because currently there’s not many community initiatives aimed specifically at them.”Having grown up in The Liberties, she too is proud of her roots and emphasises the strong sense of community in the locality. “It makes me proud to see the work that’s being done here,” she says. “Guinness has always been a great support to the local people and that support continues to this day. We’re all looking forward to the initiatives it will support in the coming years.”