Beer from Yorkshire brewery aids charity efforts in Haiti

Wold Top Brewery was asked to come up with a new beer by former employees Will Brown and Melanie Coull, who formed the charity Sustainable Aid Supporting Haiti, or Sash.

The brew, Sash Aid Ale, is now being sold to support the charity's work in rural areas of the Caribbean country as it struggles to recover from the devastating earthquake in January.

Wold Top will donate 50p from every bottle sold of the brew, which it describes as a "crisp, light and easy drinking" beer.

Miss Coull said: "Through the help of our team of volunteers and the generosity of the public we have begun to deliver aid to these rural areas, but the challenge is immense and we need to continue to raise funds to sustain our five-year plan.

"We are delighted that Wold Top Brewery is able to help in such a generous way."

The pair launched the charity to help small communities which are unable to get help from big aid organisations.

Mr Brown said: "We aim to promote self-reliance and opportunities to set up small local businesses so that the Haitian people can start to live independently again."

The earthquake, which measured 7.0 on the Richter scale and was the biggest to hit the country in 200 years, killed about 230,000 people, injured 300,000 and left a million homeless.

The charity said funds raised would not be spent on salaries or administration costs and would go straight to those most in need.

The beer can be ordered online at www.woldtopbrewery.co.uk/mailorder.