Tomatin hosted its second virtual whisky festival on 9 May to raise much-needed funds for its charity partner, Maggie’s Highlands.
The event, which was live-streamed on Tomatin’s YouTube channel, saw over 5,000 individuals tune in across the globe.
The Highland distillery partnered with several other whisky brands, with a view to giving back to the community as they share their expertise and insights, and managed to raise over £8,000 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 their 26 centres across the UK and abroad, including its centre in Inverness, close to the Tomatin distillery, which offers support across the Highland’s region.
Maggie’s experts are now supporting people by phone, email and through their online community as they deal with the added stress and anxiety of living with cancer, plus changes and delays to treatment and self-isolation.
Jennifer Masson, head of brand for Tomatin Single Malt commented: “We were so disappointed to not 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 £5,000 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, added: “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 recorded streams of both Lockdown Whisky Festivals are available to watch on the Tomatin Distillery YouTube channel.
Maggie’s Highlands are continuing to raise money to fund their online support capabilities, donations can be made online here.
Tomatin to team up with other leading whisky brands to create world's first virtual whisky festival
