We have been so proud to see that some members of our extended gin community have been rolling up their sleeves and doing their bit to help those most vulnerable in their communities during these trying times.

These three heroic distilleries have been using their unique set of skills and equipment to produce their own hand sanitisers and have put them to good use through charitable means to help make sure that no one in their community goes without such a basic necessity to help quell the spread of coronavirus.

Circumstance Distillery with Psychopomp Micro-distillery, Bristol

Image: Psychopomp Micro-distillery, Bristol

Circumstance Distillery and Psychomp Micro-Distillery in Bristol have been helping to keep their local communities topped up with hand sanitiser by producing their own and offering it in exchange for a donation to The Grand Appeal, a charity that supports Bristol Children’s Hospital by raising funds for new equipment and research.

Scented with some of the usual suspects we associate with gin, like juniper, coriander, fresh grapefruit peel and fennel seed, this hand sanitiser is a fragrant as it is helpful right now!

58 Gin Distillery, London

Image: 58 Gin Distillery, London

The Benevolent Ball is a fantastic event that raises funds for the The Drinks Trust, a charity that supports the drinks industry’s workforce in a number of ways, including help with mental health issues and help with career development.

Due to the coronavirus, this year’s ball was put in jeopardy as hand sanitiser became increasing difficult to source. Hearing about the charity’s struggle, 58 Gin Distillery stepped up to the plate to make sure the charity ball could still go ahead, meaning The Drinks Trust could still do its great work. They produced their own gin scented hand sanitiser for the event called 58 Gin Hand Gin-itizer and saved the day!

Deeside Distillery, Aberdeenshire

Image: Deeside Distillery, Aberdeenshire

As with any wide spread shortages like we are experiencing now, the most vulnerable sections our communities are the most at risk. And with the shortage of hand sanitiser available at the moment many people have been trying to make their own versions at home.

The problem is, the majority of the general public are rarely able to get their hands on strong enough alcohols to really do the trick and so leave themselves open to risk. Deeside Distillery saw itself as being uniquely positioned to help with this problem.

They knew they had strong enough alcohol to hand and they new they had the equipment and know-how to produce large quantities of hand sanitiser quickly and efficiently, so off to work they went. To date, they have donated over 4000 sanitiser packs to local schools and food banks, making sure that as many people as possible have access to this basic item needed to try and keep coronavirus at bay.