A helping hand from distillers
Whisky firm doing their bit
EMYLIE HOWIE
A Jackton whisky distillery has put their spirit business on hold in order to develop a hand sanitiser to help protect local communities from coronavirus.
The dedicated team at RAER started their dream journey to open the distillery with an imaginative range of tipples just as coronavirus hit.
But instead of letting the global pandemic stop them in their tracks, they started developing a product that would help keep South Lanarkshire residents safe.
Spearheaded by sales and marketing director, Katie O’Brien, the Jackton disstillery is now doing its bit to help out.
Katie told the News: “I’m so excited about what is going on at Jackton Distillery just now.
“We were developing our core product range when coronavirus hit, so we had a very quick change of direction.
“Never in a million years could we have guessed that our first product would be a hand sanitiser, but we knew we had to do something to help stop the spread of the virus in our community.”
Katie and Max McAneny, the team’s operations director, have halted all production of their products to help tackle COVID-19.
And the generous duo are even distributing the hand sanitiser free of charge through charitable organisation, the East Kilbride Community Trust.
The hand sanitiser is available to buy at St James Pharmacy in East Kilbride and every purchase helps provide hand sanitiser to some of the most vulnerable members of the community free of charge through the charity.
Katie added: “Our social responsibility isn’t to develop our products, it’s to develop a hand sanitiser, especially when they are so scarce.
“In connection with East Kilbride Community Trust, we are able to give them hand sanitiser to distribute to the neediest families and people with underlying health conditions in the area.
“The charity helps us identify who is most at need and that’s what is most important here.
“We will launch our products at a later date, but we’re not even talking about them just now. It’s more important we do our bit in keeping people safe.” And now that some lockdown restrictions have been lifted and people can return to work, the RAER team are calling on local businesses to do their part in doing just that.
Katie added: “With talk of people going back to work, it is key now more than ever for us to stay safe and protect not just ourselves, but those around us, the families and friends we love and care for.
“We would like to invite local businesses to help us in our efforts to support vulnerable members of our community.
“By purchasing RAER hand sanitiser to protect their teams who may soon be coming back into the workforce, they are also supporting vulnerable families within the local area.”