Trip pulled the most pints to help raise £10k for charity
GREENE KING’S PROGRESS PALE ALE WAS CREATED TO SUPPORT LGBTQ+ PEOPLE
THE oldest pub in Nottingham has helped the Greene King Brewery to raise £10,000 for a service that supports members of the LGBTQ+ community nationwide.
As part of its ongoing commitment to diversity and inclusion across its 1,700 managed pubs and office network, Greene King has donated £10,000 from sales of a limited-edition keg beer to the Switchboard LGBT+ helpline charity.
Since 1974, the Switchboard listening service has given support, knowledge, information and resources to millions of LGBTQ+ people around the country.
To many over the past five decades, it has been a friendly voice at the end of a phoneline in a time of need, and a means to access vital information that was otherwise hard to find.
Greene King donated 20p from each pint of Progress Pale Ale – Named after the Progress Pride flag – sold to help the service.
Progress Pale Ale was launched in June, during Pride Month, and was on sale until the end of September.
The Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem pulled the most pints of Progress Pale Ale of the total 50,000 served nationwide.
The development and launch of Progress Pale Ale were driven by Village Greene - Greene King’s LGBT+ employee-led inclusion group.
Introduced in the organisation in 2019, Village Greene demonstrates Greene King’s commitment to championing lesbian, gay, bi and trans equality in the workplace.
Karen Bosher, managing director of Greene King’s Premium, Urban and Venture brands, and board sponsor of the company’s Village Greene employee-led inclusion group, said: “Acceptance of diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of our operation, so it’s most fitting that the development of Progress Pale Ale – our very first limited-edition keg ale – supports this absolutely essential mission.
“We’re 100 percent committed to creating a workplace where people can be themselves, have a sense of belonging and feel valued for their individual skills and abilities. Just as we want our customers to feel at home in our pubs, we want our people to feel like they can be their true self at work.
“We also want our customers and team members who may be going through their own struggles when it comes to sexuality, gender identity, sexual health and emotional wellbeing to know that they can safely eat, drink and socialise in our pubs. We hope that including Switchboard’s number and logo on all supporting marketing material, from fliers to posters and T-shirts worn by our pub teams, has highlighted this.
“Not to mention raising awareness of where, and how, both our customers and team members across the country can access such vital help and support when they need it most.
“We hope that this is the first of many Switchboard-greene King fund and awareness-raising initiatives.”
Stephanie Fuller, Switchboard general manager, said: “Through our listening service we’ve been supporting LGBTQIA+ communities across the UK since 1974 with calm words when they are needed most. It’s donations like this that make a real difference to the help we’re able to provide.
“This £10,000 donation alone means that we’ll be able to listen to 1,667 calls or train 22 more volunteers to answer them.
“These are truly significant and important numbers and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank Greene King and everyone who has enjoyed a pint of Progress Pale Ale in recent months for their support.”