That’s the spirit! Distillery in Mission fundraiser
1st December 2022
A distillery based in the Outer Hebrides is offering an alternative to Black Friday that will help raise funds for the Fishermen’s Mission, reports Paul Scott.
The Isle of Barra Distillers Co says that rather than taking part in Black Friday sales, it is instead again running its own ‘Giving Tuesday’, following the event’s success last year.
Over the week up to Tuesday, 29 November, the company is donating £5 from the sale of each bottle of its Gold Cave limited-edition cask-aged gin to the Mission. Last year, the distillery’s Giving Tuesday event helped to raise £2,500 for a local charity, the Barra Cancer Group.
Michael Morrison, co-founder and managing director of the distillery, said: “We have built our business on the ethos of doing our bit for our community, and trying to make a positive impact.
“This isn’t just lip service, we really do mean this, and that is why it was an honour for us when we reached out to the people at the Fishermen’s Mission to see if they would be happy if we tried to raise a little money for them with the help of the brilliant people that follow and support our business.
“Times are difficult for so many right now, so it is great that we can help do a little bit that will make a difference to someone.”
The second release in the series of limited-edition cask-aged gins, the distillery’s Gold Cave has been aged in an ex-sherry cask for six months. This year’s run produced a total of 1,417 bottles – a case of which the distillery has generously donated to be raffled at next year’s Fishing News Awards, with the proceeds also going to the Mission.
Dean Lawrence, the Mission’s corporate partnerships manager, said: “Partnership are always special for us, especially when there is such a great connection between the work of the charity and local area of the partner.
We are particularly humbled by the enthusiasm and wonderful generosity from the team at Isle of Barra Distillers.”
Aside from the low edition limit, the bottles also have a distinctive, though unintentional, feature in the form of a small typo on their labels. “We did think about ordering replacement ones, but then thought that was a waste,” said Michael Morrison.
“Instead, we used the money we would have spent on new labels and added it to the pot for the Mission. Katie, our co-founder, put it down simply to ‘baby brain’ as she is about eight months pregnant! We’re told the Harry Potter books have a typo on the back cover, so if it’s okay for them, it’s definitely okay for us.”
The limited-edition Gold Cave cask-aged gin is priced at £45 and is available to order here.
This story was taken from the latest issue of Fishing News. For more up-to-date and in-depth reports on the UK and Irish commercial fishing sector, subscribe to Fishing News here or buy the latest single issue for just £3.30 here.
