The Bertarelli Foundation supports a number of projects in local communities in which the trustees have lived or worked, particularly in Switzerland, Tuscany and north-west England. These vary enormously in their scope but they are intended to have maximum impact on the lives of local people.
Projects and activities are personally selected by Bertarelli Foundation’s trustees in response to the needs of local communities. Some of the Foundation’s current initiatives are detailed here, but in the past the Foundation has also supported projects as wide-ranging as the Henna Pre-School in South Africa and Net’Léman on the shores of Lake Geneva.
Henna Pre-School, in the north-east of South Africa, was founded in 1991 to provide education for some of the poorest children in the country. Following a visit to the school in 2009, the Foundation’s trustees sponsored a new wing dedicated to its youngest students and in 2011, the Foundation provided additional support for the construction of a small medical facility for the students and local community.
Net’Léman is a day on which Lake Geneva is cleaned by an enthusiastic team of volunteers, who help to rid the waters and shores of waste and rubbish. In 2012 The Bertarelli Foundation was the main sponsor of the event and amongst the ten tonnes of rubbish removed were two empty safes, a microwave, three televisions, and, unexpectedly, a revolver.