Education, Entrepreneurship & Development

The James Caan Foundation

Listen to James Caan CBE

In 2002 when James sold Alexander Mann he took just over a year off to reflect on his professional life, journey and achievements.

In 2004 he returned to his roots, his birth place; Pakistan. He was extremely overwhelmed with the lack of education, food and the severity of the recent flooding in the country. He decided that he wanted to give something back.

James visits to Pakistan after 2010 flood disaster, talking with Juliet Bremner.
James helping unload supplies from a plane to be distributed to the residents of flood-stricken Pakistan

James launched ‘The Build a Village Project’ in 2010 after seeing the aftermath of the Pakistan floods first hand. James built the Abdul Kashid Khan campus, which educates over 400 children in a rural village outside of Lahore.

In 2014, the JCF supported 400 would-be entrepreneurs from vulnerable families affected by the floods whose income had been destroyed to start up their very own micro-enterprise businesses.

Not only are they now re-establishing their annual income but are also gaining the tools click here they need to fend for themselves and their families.

Charity support

Youth Business International will be featured on BBC Radio 4’s appeal with James as their spokesperson.

Just £50 could train a young person in Uganda to help them grow their business.

Youth Business International (YBI) was established in 2000 in the face of extremely high unemployment rates for young people around the world. After falling for some years, youth unemployment rates are again on the increase. There are over 65 million unemployed young people globally and around 145 million young workers living in poverty.  Since 2014 YBI has supported over 95,000 young people to start or grow a business by delivering a range of practical entrepreneurship support services in over 50 countries. This includes skills training, mentoring and access to finance. YBI’s global network of expert organisations delivers a holistic, high quality package of support that really works. 70% of the businesses we support are still trading after three years.