With there being so much doom and gloom around at the moment, we thought it would nice to shed some light on some of the many wonderful acts of kindness taking place across our community.

It’s fair to say that the threat that COVID -19 brings has brought out the worst in a few people, but for many, many others it has brought out the best, and we want to share the stories of those local heroes who are going above and beyond to support their communities.

One such couple are Zoe and Andy Arnold-Bennett who own the fabulous Shed 1 Gin Distillery in Ulverston.

We are already big fans of Shed 1 Gin, we’ve visited the distillery at The Old Calf Shed on North Lonsdale Road, sampled their many delicious gins (highly recommend Giggle in the Ginnel), even spread their homemade marmalade on our toast for breakfast (if you haven’t tried it yet – do! It’s amazing!)

But they’ve really shown what community spirit is all about with their contribution to St. Mary’s Hospice.

It’s no secret that in recent weeks hand sanitiser has become ridiculously hard to find, and when it is available – the cost per bottle has sky-rocketed, a problem for everyone, but a major problem for our local hospice St. Mary’s.

In light of recent events Zoe and Andy decided they’d like to produce their own and gift it to St. Mary’s. They did the research, sourced all the materials, applied for, and were given permission to start producing hand sanitiser by HMRC.

Now this isn’t your typical hand sanitiser you can make at home – this one follows the World Health Organisation’s formula which uses 80% ABV ethanol and is at least 20% stronger than standard alcohol sanitiser. The finished product is supplied in PET, recyclable bottles rather than glass ones.

A crowd funding campaign was set up for donations to help cover the cost of the materials, and the response from the public has been amazing, far exceeding initial targets and expectations.

One thing this campaign brought to light was just how many local groups and organisations need support too.  As well as producing the sanitiser for the hospice, Shed 1 are also looking to help other vulnerable groups in the area too, with many struggling financially, bottles of hand sanitiser will be gifted to them to help them through these tough times.

Not all heroes wear capes – some come armed with bottles of hand sanitiser…and deliver bottles of gin too.

Cheers guys, community spirit at its best!

Want to help? You can visit their JustGiving page here:https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/shed1sanitiser?utm_term=DjnabDQmn&fbclid=IwAR0DndOAb92HuQ63SH8M4ASIw7KmadpXB4F5RdFnlGJwzdAKk8-66GtYQ8o

You can also check out the delicious range of gins, elixirs, hampers, marmalades and gifts on offer from Shed1 here: https://shed1distillery.com/