Leeds brewery in free beer giveaway to frontline workers

Leeds brewery Northern Monk has given away 5,000 cans of its flagship beer, Faith, to frontline workers tackling the Covid crisis.

The Leeds company said it listed the cans of Faith free of charge on its online shop as a thank-you to key workers and to encourage people to “keep the faith”.

This is the second time that Northern Monk has completed a 5,000 can donation – the brewery did the same thing back in March.

Northern Monk founder Russell Bisset said: “In the midst of the second national lockdown, and in the run up to the festive period, there’s never been a more important time for us to show our support for the incredible work that NHS staff, front line care workers, teachers, lecturers, support workers and more, are doing during this time.

“At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we gave more money to charity than we made as a business – and we don’t intend to stop giving yet.

“Thank you to everybody that helped us keep the Faith and get the beer into the hands of the right people this weekend.”

This was the latest in a series of charitable intitiatives the company has undertaken since the start of the Covid pandemic eight months ago.

In May, Northern Monk employees climbed the ascent and descent of Mount Everest via their staircases, whilst in lockdown, to raise money for their For The North Foundation grant scheme that gives £5,000 grants to community and environmental causes in the North. Between May and June, Northern Monk donated £10,000 to three Yorkshire-based projects through the For The North Foundation: Rooted For Girls, the BME Hub and The Racial Justice Network.

In July, Northern Monk released LDS AS ONE, a beer to support the hospitality industry in Leeds during lockdown. All stock was supplied to venues free, so they could keep all proceeds, or gift the cans to their employees.

In August, Northern Monk received 1,021 job applications for a packaging position, which highlighted the recent jobs crisis in Leeds. Led by the company’s HR manager, the brewery worked with 50 ‘applicants’, free of charge, through an in-house employment scheme that was created as a result of receiving such a high volume of applications. The scheme worked with 50 currently unemployed people, and helped each of them with their CV, conducting a 30-minute practice Zoom interview with them.