Hogs Back Brewery has signed up Hospice Care charity Phyllis Tuckwell to its unique hop adoption scheme. Having chosen Farnham-based Phyllis Tuckwell as its Charity Partner for the forthcoming year, the Surrey brewery invited the charity to take part in the ‘Adopt a Hop’ project.
Local residents, charities and businesses have been invited to plant their own hop in the Hogs Back’s new hop garden and get involved in helping it flourish from now until harvest next September. The new hop garden spans 8.5 acres, more than double the size of the previous site. It is located within Manor Farm in Tongham, where the brewery itself is sited, in a prime location on the best land on the farm.
As part of the move, Hogs Back has offered the public the opportunity to Rehome a Hop by taking home a Pioneer dwarf hop plant for their own garden, in return for a suggested £5 donation to Phyllis Tuckwell.
Phyllis Tuckwell’s corporate partnerships manager, Nick Adams, recently visited Hogs Back Brewery’s new site to plant the charity’s own hop.
“We were delighted to welcome Nick to the brewery to plant Phyllis Tuckwell’s hop,” said Rupert Thompson, managing director of Hogs Back Brewery. “When we decided to move and expand the hop garden, we wanted to thank the local community and give them a chance to share in our hop growing journey in the future. As our charity partner for 2018/19, Phyllis Tuckwell is a key part of that community.”
“We would like to thank Hogs Back for choosing Phyllis Tuckwell as their Charity Partner for this forthcoming year and for generously donating to us the money raised by their ‘Adopt a Hop’ project,” said Nick Adams. “The money raised will add to the £10,000 which Hogs Back Brewery has already presented to Phyllis Tuckwell at the brewery’s Hop Harvest Party in Tongham in September.”
Hogs Back are planning more fundraising activities for the next year, the proceeds of which will be added to an additional £10,000 which they have already pledged, to be presented to Phyllis Tuckwell in September 2019. All the money raised will go towards helping fund the vital supportive and end of life care which Phyllis Tuckwell offers to local patients and families who are living with an advanced or terminal illness, such as cancer.
Marking its 40th anniversary in 2019, every day Phyllis Tuckwell supports over 250 patients, relatives and carers – in their own homes, in the community, at the Hospice in Farnham and at the Beacon Centre in Guildford – through medical and nursing care, therapies, counselling, social work advice and practical support. However, as the NHS/Government only covers 20% of its costs, it has to raise over £20,000 a day to be able to do this.
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Notes for Editors:
John Porter at ShielPorter Communications on 07734 054389 / john@shielporter.com
About Phyllis Tuckwell
Phyllis Tuckwell provides supportive and end of life care for adult patients and families living with an advanced or terminal illness (such as cancer, heart, lung or neurological disease) in West Surrey and North East Hampshire, an area of 550,000 residents.
Every day we support over 250 patients, relatives and carers in their own homes, in the community, at the Hospice in Farnham and at the Beacon Centre in Guildford, through a mix of medical and nursing care, therapies, counselling, social work advice and practical support.
The NHS/Government only covers 20% of our costs, which means we have to raise over £20,000 a day to be able to offer all our services, free of charge, to our patients and their families. We therefore rely heavily on the support and generosity of our local community.
About Hogs Back Brewery
- Hogs Back Brewery was founded in 1992 in Tongham, Surrey, in the heart of the traditional Surrey hop growing area.
- Its flagship brand TEA, or Traditional English Ale, is one of the leading regional ales in the South East. The first beer brewed by Hogs Back 26 years ago, TEA has won multiple awards including runner-up in CAMRA’s Champion Beer of Britain in 2000. Distribution of TEA is currently at an all-time high.
- The Hogs Back Brewery range includes a number of award-winning draught and bottled beers. Launches over recent years include Outback Pale Ale, Hogstar English Craft Lager and Montezuma’s Chocolate Lager, all demonstrating Hogs Back’s ability to combine brewing expertise and tradition with product innovation to create distinctive, memorable beers. In 2013, Hogs Back also launched a traditional cloudy cider, Hazy Hog.
- In September 2015 Hogs Back Brewery harvested the first hops from its own hop garden on a 3.5 acre plot adjacent to the brewery, bringing the traditional but near-extinct Farnham White Bine hop variety back to its Surrey home. They are now in the process of moving the hop garden to a site more than double the size of the existing one, which will ultimately provide 50% of their hop requirements.
- Hogs Back harvested four varieties in its hop garden in August 2018: Fuggles, used in their flagship TEA, or Traditional English Ale; Farnham White Bine, used in its limited-edition beer of the same name; English Cascade, used in Hogstar English Craft Lager; and a dwarf variety, Pioneer, used in its Home Harvest Ale. Hogs Back sources the majority of its hops from within 5 miles of the brewery.