I am pleased to be involved in helping three successful business ventures. Two are very small and I get no financial return from them, but I am very pleased to have been involved. I will draw a veil over my failures.

1. A friend of mine wanted to avoid wind turbines on the hills around his home and so he came up with an alternative: installing a turbine on the disused dam which once powered a factory near Oldham, Manchester.

It was successfully installed and took 100 nearby homes off the grid, in a very sustainable way.

Saddleworth Community Hydro makes a profit, which has allowed us to set up a fund to replace the equipment when it needs renewal, and we now give grants to green energy projects across the area. My investment? I can’t remember, but possibly £200.

2. Camden Town Brewery is close to where I live in central London and was another venture that benefitted from my munificence.

When they were founded in 2010 they asked for local support and again I ventured £200. Result? Success! So much so that they were bought out by Anheuser-Busch, to my annoyance. I wanted to be able to boast that I was a man who owns a brewery (or a very small portion thereof!) I doubled my money but that was not what I wanted.

Their best known beer: Camden Hells. Still, it has been a huge success and I wish them well.

3. On a much smaller scale, I work with Kentish Town Vegbox, packing organic fruit and vegetables in Kentish Town.

Most are grown within 25 miles of London. I have no financial stake, but it is fun and all of us who do it are eccentric.

We serve about 400 households and make a modest surplus, which allows us to subsidise some purchases for poorer families (but nothing is free) and to offer some pay to those volunteers who need it. It has been in existence since 2012 and is a very happy non-profit community project.