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Manchester brewery topple fundraising target

Manchester brewery Joseph Holt has beaten its target and raised more than £90,000 following an 18 month fundraising campaign for Francis House Children’s Hospice.

More than 128 Joseph Holt pubs, plus free trade customers supported the brewery firms pledge in 2015, to raise over £50k for the Didsbury hospice.

At a presentation event held at one of the top fundraising pubs, the Lord Nelson in Urmston, chief executive of Joseph Holt, Richard Kershaw revealed the original target of £50,000 was surpassed by a further £42,392.47 making the grand total raised of £92,392.47.

The eye-watering total was reached through bar collection tins and the combined efforts of the many fundraisers who organised fun days, beer festivals and the brewery staff tackling sporting challenges including the Great North Run.

“We set out to raise 50k and we have eclipsed our initial target. I am so proud of all our pub managers, suppliers and customers and of course the team at Joseph Holt. It’s a great achievement, and once again demonstrates everyone’s commitment to supporting a local charity, the appeal has been an outstanding success proving that Joseph Holt pubs really are the heart of the community.” said Richard Kershaw.

Among those toasting their success were members of the executive board, colleagues from the brewery and staff from Francis House as well as managers from the top seven fundraising pubs.

Julie and Ian Slamon, pub managers at the Lord Nelson raised more than £7,000 backed by customers, family and friends when they trekked through the Andes Mountains in Peru to Machu Picchu.

They were also named the Community Pub of the year by real ale group CAMRA in 2016. The accolade came after Ian and Julie raised the staggering total for Francis House. The award also recognised the warm and welcoming atmosphere the pair have created in the Lord Nelson over the past 17 years.

“We’ve been blessed over the 17 years we’ve been here with some great customers who have got to know us and our family growing up here. We consider ourselves fortunate that we’ve never needed the support of a hospice like Francis House and know what a lifeline it is to the families that do.” said Julie.

Ian added: “Taking part in the trek gave us memories that will stay with us forever and we’re delighted to have raised so much money in the process.”

The Brewery, founded in 1849 also took to social media to drum up support by adding a JustGiving page to their website to drive donations from their loyal customers, as well as promoting the community events the pubs had organised.

David Ireland chief executive of Francis House said: “On behalf of Francis House and the 1,200 families who receive care and support I would like to express our thanks to you all for raising a phenomenal amount of money. We are incredibly grateful for all your hard work and it has been a pleasure working with Joseph Holt and meeting some of you on fundraising walks and events throughout the year. It is a brilliant achievement and thank you to all involved.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Francis House Children’s Hospice .