Banks's staff help raise £16,000 for Wolverhampton's Compton Care after holding of memorabilia auction
Staff at the now-closed Banks's brewery raised £8,000 for a Wolverhampton hospice after holding an auction of memorabilia from the site.
And the windfall was doubled to £16,000 when Banks's owner Carlsberg Britvic agreed to match fund the money raised.
As Banks's Park Brewery in Chapel Ash approached its closure after 150 years, colleagues from across Wolverhampton took part in an internal auction of memorabilia, ranging from vintage posters for marketing campaigns to signed Wolverhampton Wanderers football shirts.
Across the series of auctions, more than £8,000 was raised for Compton Care, with Carlsberg Britvic matching the final amount to a total of over £16,000.
Compton Care is a cause close to the hearts of the team at Banks's, having provided care for several colleagues from the brewery over many years.
Head brewer Dave Hill said: “We are all so pleased we have managed to raise such an incredible sum for Compton Care to help support their amazing work in the region.
“True to the Banks’s spirit, the team have been incredibly generous. Even at such an emotional time with the closure, they have chosen to give back to the community.
“We’re very grateful to Carlsberg Britvic for matching our efforts, doubling the figure the team has raised. It gives us great pride to know that, to the last, Banks’s helped to make a difference for people in the Black Country.”
Rachel Hailey, corporate fundraiser at Compton Care, thanked the staff and management at Banks's for their generous donation.
"This donation will help Compton Care to continue providing vital support to those who need it most. Together, we’re making a real difference in people’s lives.”
Alongside fundraising, over the past months the team at Banks’s have worked with local organisations such as the Wolverhampton Archives to preserve important documents and artefacts from the brewery within the region.
"Through these efforts, Banks’s leaves an enduring legacy to the people of Wolverhampton, whose passion for Banks’s cemented its place as an icon of the Black Country for 150 years," said a spokesman for the company.
Park Brewery, which opened in 1875, closed in September, having produced last brew the previous month.
Banks's bitter, now renamed Amber, will continue to be brewed in Burton-upon-Trent. Production of Banks's Mild ended as a cask beer last year, although it will continue to be sold in Smoothpour keg form, and in cans.
