T he St Austell Brewery Charitable Trust has been supporting local charities, good causes, and individuals in need across the South West, since its launch in 2003.
To date, the Charitable Trust has raised more than £1,000,000 – and we’re determined to build on the success, so that we can give back to our communities – from Land’s End to Bath. This has been made possible by fundraising contributions from the brewery, along with donations and money raised through fundraising events held by our head office, depot, pub teams, and free trade customers.
Notable Fundraisers
A great example of our fundraising within our pubs is our Fish and Chips offer. For every portion ordered, we donate 25p to the Charitable Trust. In 2022 we were able to donate £16,743 raised to Cornwall Air Ambulance. This year we are donating money raised from Fish and Chips to our Heart of the Community campaign – our mission to ensure we help our communities by fitting defibrillators onto 55 of our pubs that we have identified as needing one.
In March 2023 – during Walk All Over Cancer Month – we raised £20,000 by completing a series of sponsored walks, in memory of our colleague and friend Jim Sloan who sadly passed away the year before. The money raised was equally split between Cancer Research UK and Only a Pavement Away – causes close to Jim’s heart. The following year we came together again for a companywide sponsored walk, we raised £10,000 for our Heart of the Community campaign thanks to team members walking the 12 miles from the Borough Arms, our Bodmin pub, to our other managed house in Padstow, The Shipwrights.
Another one of our biggest fundraisers, since the Trust first launched, is the annual Celtic Beer Festival. Held in the brewery cellars, the event has so far generated more than £200,000. In 2024, it returned after a break following the pandemic and raised around £20,000 on the day for the Trust.
We have seen a marked increase in requests and continue to think of ways to fundraise in order to help those in need in our communities.
Where the money goes
Every penny goes straight back to local communities, where it is needed most. In 2023, we donated more than £80,793 to important causes in our region.
We’re proud that the charities we work with are passionate about safeguarding the environment and the people in need across the South West and beyond. Examples of this include;
Young Lives vs Cancer We have shared grants to go towards social work supporting families in Bristol with the devastating impact of childhood cancer.
The Air Ambulances of Cornwall, Devon, and Somerset cover our West Country heartland. When every minute matters, air ambulances can be the difference between life and death. They rely on the public to fund lifesaving missions, so they can keep more families together.
Other charities supported by the Trust include the RNLI, Children’s Hospice South West, Macmillan Cancer Support, Cancer Research UK, and many others.
More than a third of all money raised is donated to individuals and small local groups across the region. Over £12,360 was gifted to individual causes in 2023, and our committee meet on a regular basis to discuss these types of donations.
Financial assistance can vary from small local charities seeking funding to run groups or health support, to individuals seeking pieces of equipment like wheelchairs, all have transformed people’s lives.
Download our donation guidelines and how to make a request (pdfs).
Learn more about who we are and how to seek support for the St Austell Brewery Charitable Trust by emailing us here.
FIND OUT HOW YOU CAN HELP
Every penny goes straight back to our local communities, where it's needed most. We're delighted to have raised over £1 million since we first launched the charitable trust and with every contribution, continue to focus our efforts to support our community.