The Bar Man - It’s cheers to charity

I have no idea of the actual figures, but I guess that a fair amount of the donations received by charities come from the pub and beer world.

Every bar seems to have at least one charity box, maybe for the RNIB, Burma Star, RNLI or a local charity such as the True’s Yard Museum. Some pubs go further with their giant bottles for your spare coppers, or towers of coins which can be toppled at a special event. Second hand books seem to be growing in popularity, and I left the charity box well stuffed when I discovered a pub with a large number of books on the history of Lancashire cricket on sale. Some pubs put on special charity events such as the soapbox race that has been held at the Cock at Wiggenhall St Mary Magdalen. Beer festivals are another great fundraising idea, and the Stuart House annual beer festival must have raised many thousands for deserving causes in conjunction with the Vancouver Round Table. I also noticed that the Moth in a China Shop charity organised a beer festival down in Beechamwell recently. Then there are the regular quiz events such as the Rathskeller (third Wednesday), King’s Arms at Shouldham (last Sunday) and the Victory at Clenchwarton (first Wednesday)

Now, the brewers are getting in on the act. Norwich-based brewer, Redwell hosted a ‘Beers for Deers’ charity event at their premises to raise money for the Morley Wildlife Rescue Centre, specifically to raise money to fund a deer release pen for Frodo, a muntjac deer faun to use in so that he can become accustomed to outdoor living before being set free into the wild.

However you can play your part without going to a special event, or even leaving home. Several breweries produce special beers and donate part of the proceeds to various charities. Panther Brewery at Reedham have produced ‘Paws for Thought’ a 4.3% Golden Ale available in both bottle and on draught. This has been brewed in conjunction with Nelson’s Journey, a bereavement charity. Among the many great beers produced by the Beeston Brewery is ‘Drink to Remember’ a beer designed to raise funds for a memorial to those who lost their lives while serving at the North Creake airfield, with 15p from every bottle sold going towards the fund.

It is not just small local breweries that get in on the act. St Austell have their Cousin Jack beer, which donates 5p per bottle to the RNLI and Fullers have raised over £200,000 from the sale of their Seafarers Ale for the charity of the same name.

I think we can all agree that these pubs and brewers are doing a great job, raising money for good causes and helping to put pubs at the heart of their community.

I have often though that it would be a good research topic to try to quantify the contribution that pubs make to charities, and the effect of the changes happening in the industry to those contributions. Do people give a certain amount, and if their pub closes, donate in another way? Does the trend to drive pubs up market, to the point where some are essentially restaurants with a bar impact donations. If you are served at a bar, there is presumably more chance that you will put your spare change in the box, compared to receiving your bill at the table.

Is the trend to pay for drinks with cards affecting contributions? A research topic that involves pub visits. I am surprised it has not already been done.