McColl’s Brewery is proud to announce that the fundraising target set in December 2020 has just been reached from sales of their collaboration beer for Men’s Pie Club (MPC) to help tackle social isolation in men across the North East of England.
The North East craft brewery collaborated with MPC late last year to brew a traditional bitter (with a twist), with £1 from every can of beer sold being donated to the club. They hoped to raise £2,500 in total, which will enable Men’s Pie Club to continue their great work.
The Club
Men’s Pie Club is about local guys, making pies. Supported by Food Nation, a social enterprise based in Newcastle, MPC was developed in response to the need for increasing levels of social connections and feelings of belonging for men in the North East of England.
The History
Jamie Sadler is the brains behind Men’s Pie Club and has a knack for bringing people together through food and creativity, and wanted to thank everyone who has supported the initiative so far.
Jamie says – “It’s been brilliant working in such close partnership with Danny and the McColl’s team. They really understand what Men’s Pie Club is about and have been so enthusiastic about our efforts to tackle issues associated with men and social isolation in the North East. A highlight for me was when a guy purchased a McColls x MPC beer and got in touch with us directly to hopefully join one of our clubs!
We’re still in the early days with MPC. Our ambition is to one day have clubs across the North East and beyond. The funds and awareness this partnership has raised is super important for us – both will play a big part in the development of MPC, helping us to roll out additional clubs over the coming months, including one at McColl’s Brewery in the near future! We hope to have a minimum of five clubs set up by the Autumn in various North East communities. Thank you to everyone at McColl’s Brewery and everyone who bought a can!”
The Beer & The Partnership
A traditional Bitter, relatively low in alcohol at 3.6%, cold filtered through a blend of crushed black and white pepper, and purposefully created to perfectly accompany a tasty pie.
The partnership is only just beginning for Men’s Pie Club and McColl’s Brewery. Next up, Danny and co. have created a cask version with 10p from every pint sold donated to the club.
The Future
Anyone familiar with the beer will be aware that it was originally only available in 440ml cans and that a massive £1 from every can was donated to Men’s Pie Club, in order to raise £2,500 for them to continue their great work. They may also have seen the beer is now available in cask with 10p from every pint being donated to the club. With this new launch, McColl’s Brewery aims to highlight how important the role of pubs play within the community, helping to start conversations around loneliness, belonging and mental health and helping the club to reach a wider audience.
Danny McColl, owner of McColl’s Brewery said “The initial project was made possible by amazing generosity from suppliers to lower the cost of the first batches of cans, and as much as we’d love to continue donating such a generous amount, we simply can’t expect our suppliers to continually ‘subsidise’ the materials and ingredients at cost price, or even for free in certain instances, as the past 15 months has been tough on all parts of our industry and supply chain.
It’s fair to say we’ve been blown away by the response and support ‘Let’s eat pies and talk about men’s mental health’ has received. The beer collaboration with Men’s Pie Club was meant to be a one-off project but the work they do is so important, along with the amazing response to the beer since launching last December has meant that we are committing to support MPC for the long term.”
Availability
‘Let’s eat pies….’ is available in cans across the UK from independent venues and via the McColl’s Brewery webshop (UK wide delivery) – www.mccollsbrewery.co.uk. The cask version is available from selected pubs now.
ENDS
About McColl’s Brewery
CONTEMPORARY WITH TRADITION
Based in County Durham, Daniel and Gemma McColl launched McColl’s Brewery in spring 2017. Inspired by traditional British, Belgian and new wave beer styles they look to create beers that everyone can enjoy.
www.mccollsbrewery.co.uk
Press release from McColl’s Brewery
Danny – 07712 658112 / 01388 417250
danny@mccollsbrewery.co.uk