Partnership is a beneficial blend for Dullatur charity after Covid ravages fundraising

Established for over 50 years, Spina Bifida Hydrocephalus Scotland (SBH Scotland) is a specialist charity supporting those affected by these conditions, together with their families.

It takes £1 million a year to run a range of support services across Scotland from health and wellness checks for adult members, to parent and baby groups.

SBH Scotland’s Direct Services Support Team support over 3500 individuals with a special helpline, one-to-one support in homes and schools, combined clinics in hospitals, support groups, financial advice, play sessions, outings and workshops.

A few weeks into lockdown, and with the charity facing losing half of its fundraising income due to Covid-19, one of the charity’s fundraisers came across commercial coffee roaster and blender, Blendly, online.

It works with hospitality businesses and coffee loving individuals all over the UK to create bespoke coffee blends, providing an online platform where these blends can then be shared and sold onto others as a business opportunity for those creating the blend.

SBH fundraising manager Lynsey Hamilton said: “We thought this was a really interesting concept, on contacting Blendly to find out more, we were told that we could use their platform to raise funds for SBH Scotland.

“Working with charities was an area Blendly wanted to break into and we were delighted to become the first to do so, developing three different coffee blends with their expert help and guidance - a Continental, Light Italian Blend and Decaffeinated.

“These are on sale to coffee loving members of the public, delivered to their doors in just three days, with other companies able to purchase the coffee for their break and boardrooms.

“An added boost to our efforts to initially raise £5000 from this venture came when Blendly said they would include one of our blends as one of the three coffees in their very first monthly subscription box which goes out to at home subscribers.”

Lynsey is encouraging other charities to get involved with Blendly at this time, as the current challenges in fundraising “call for creative thinking”.

She said: “Blendly could not have been more helpful and supportive. Our relationship is mutually beneficial, as they want to list as many interesting blends as they can under their Blend Repository on the website.

“Coffee tastes have become very sophisticated – we were simply amazed when we found out about the vast choice of sustainably sourced beans that Blendly has access to, which can ultimately result in a wide choice of coffees, roasted to differing strengths and tastes.

“We hope that our supporters, volunteers and families will buy some of our coffees for their own use. “It’s also offered at the centre, and when we can start hosting events again, we will certainly be serving it to those attending.”

Johnathan Gray, E Procurement manager at Blendly, said: “We very much hope that our partnership with SBH Scotland goes some way to providing a new viable income stream for them during these unsettling times.

“We have a strong track record in the hospitality industry where using Blendly as your coffee supplier can demonstrate real cost savings and other commercial benefits, but we’d love to work with many more charities and organisations across the UK.

“Blendly gives them the tools to run what is, in effect, their own coffee businesses, extending these same benefits to them.”

For further details visit www.blendly.co.uk and www.sbhscotland.org.uk.