Coronavirus hasn’t left an industry untouched, and whilst we’ve been fortunate to keep trading this year, many of our friends and colleagues in the industry have faced significant hardship.
15th December 2020 | Life at Virgin Wines | 4 minute read
Supporting PROUD Beer, Supporting the LGBTQ Community
The difficulties the hospitality industry has faced over the past year have not only affected waiters, bar staff, chefs and business owners, but it has also had a massive knock on effect for suppliers. Without a steady and consistent demand for dining and drinking out, and with many hospitality venues shutting their doors, unfortunately, many winemakers, distillers and brewers have found themselves in challenging times.
PROUD Beer have found themselves in this difficult situation over recent months. Heavily reliant on the bar, events and restaurant trade, they were close to breaking point with 95% of their business coming to a halt. With limited capital and plenty of stock, founder, Ethan Spibey, faced a very worrying situation.
Enter the power of social media! If there’s one positive to come out of 2020 it’s the fierce togetherness and community spirit which has helped people of all backgrounds and industries get through. In a plea for help, Ethan posted PROUD Beer’s situation on Facebook, and what ensued ultimately saved his enterprise.
5,000 bottles were sold off the back of this social media post, which as Ethan states saved PROUD Beer:
“The support we received was incredible. We’re so grateful for people coming together and supporting businesses like ours – we wouldn’t be here without them!”
Alex Davies, our Beer Buyer, was just one of the many people who came across Ethan’s post and wanted to show support. And we couldn’t be happier to play our small part in keeping PROUD Beer afloat.
What stood out for Alex was the story and enterprise model behind PROUD Beer and the fantastic work Ethan has put in supporting the LGBTQ community. Having always been involved with charitable work, as has his family, including his grandad fighting for equality for gay and bi blood donations, Ethan has campaigned for a number of LGBTQ issues, fighting to raise awareness and drive change year-round, not just for the key dates and months in the calendar year.
PROUD Beer was setup just 18 months ago as a charitable enterprise and with every purchase of one of their beers (which are seriously good) a 20p donation of the sale goes towards three key charities which they support. The Terrence Higgins Trust is one of the fantastic charities they have partnered with, and with sales of PROUD Beer to date, they have been able to fund 700 days of anti-bullying workshops across the country, as well as raising over £10,000 to date for the LGBT Foundation and Diversity Role Models. A fantastic achievement.
And the good news is that you, our awesome Virgin Wines customers, can keep supporting PROUD Beer by purchasing their products from our store. We currently have the PROUD LGBTQ IPA available, which has delicious malt tones and excellent bitterness – we know you’ll enjoy it.
We fully support Ethan and the LGBTQ community, and hope you can too.
For details on the charities PROUD Beer supports, please visit:
