Tomatin Distillery virtual whisky festival held during lockdown raises more than £8000 for cancer charity
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Tomatin Distillery held a virtual whisky festival to raise much-needed funds for its charity partner, Maggie’s Highlands.
The event, which was live-streamed on Tomatin’s own YouTube channel on May 9, saw more than 5000 individuals tune in across the globe.
The Highland distillery partnered with several other whisky brands to share their expertise and insights and managed to raise more than £8000 for Maggie’s through the virtual event.
Maggie’s, a charity which provides free practical and emotional support to people living with cancer, is currently unable to see people face-to-face at its 26 centres across the UK and abroad, including its centre in Inverness.
Maggie’s experts are now supporting people by phone, email and through their online community.
Jennifer Masson, head of brand for Tomatin Single Malt, said: "We were so disappointed not to be able to support Maggie’s Highlands with their golf day last month, which usually raises around £60,000 in one day and unfortunately had to be cancelled.
"They require over half a million pounds a year in donations to operate so it really was a no-brainer when it came to who we would support.
"This event and the funds it has raised has made a huge difference to them, as well as providing entertainment to whisky fans the world over.
"We were amazed by the generosity shown by our viewers on the day, and beyond.
"We aimed to raise £5000 and this was achieved during the live stream, and the donations continued to come in until today.”
Andrew Benjamin, centre manager of Maggie’s Highlands, said: "We feel very lucky that, even with everyone’s attention turned to other issues, Tomatin and other whisky brands have chosen to continue to show support.
"We have been humbled at how much of the support has come from Tomatin’s global audience, and we can’t thank them enough for doing this.
"It’ll go a long way to helping us to support people with cancer and their families over this difficult time."
The most recent event was Tomatin's second virtual festival held during the coronavirus lockdown.
Recorded streams of both events are available to watch on the Tomatin Distillery YouTube channel.
Maggie’s Highlands is continuing to raise money to fund their online support capabilities.
Donations can be made here
