Just like all of us, the Rossendale food and drink industry has been hit hard during the pandemic, and setting up a new business in such times may seem daunting to many.
However even a global pandemic couldn’t daunt the ambitions of 2 local brothers and their families!
Jay Wilson, a lover of gin and a vision for crafted spirits, found himself with time on his hands after being placed on furlough during the first national lockdown last March and was determined to not let the pandemic beat him. Together with his wife Cara Wilson, they joined forces with his brother Mike Wilson and fiancee Emma Youngs, to create their very own gin made from wonderful Lancashire ingredients.
Jay told Essential: “The Dream was born out of the first lockdown after I was put on furlough for about six months, as I was worked in residential properties. I got a couple of weeks into lockdown and with too much time on my hands, me and Mike started messaging each other and we just thought we would like to do something to do with Lancashire having its own gin.”
The brothers knew that the fine countryside of Lancashire would be a great unique selling point for selling a gin, using local ingredients, but recognised that there were already a number of successful rival gin makers in the county.
Jay continued “Our aim is to use famous local ingredients such as whinberries in all our creations, taking advice and guidance from various distillers to create something that all of Lancashire can be proud of and so we became Lancashire Gin Family.
Now, less then a year later Lancashire Gin Family have launched their unique
SOPHIE’S SPARKLE RASPBERRY GIN
It’s their newest and biggest flavour yet!!!
Jay said they wanted to push the boat out and make something special in memory of a very special little girl, Sophie Charlotte Francis who was born in February 2017.
She was a very content baby with a brilliant smile – but just five months later, her parents noticed a lump on her belly.
It turned out to be a malignant rhabdoid tumour of the liver with metastasis – a very rare disease with limited chances of survival.
Sadly, Sophie died on October 9, 2017, at the age of just seven and a half months.
All profits from Sophie’s Sparkle Raspberry Gin will be donated to the Grace Kelly Childrens Cancer Trust and Sophies Wish Fund.
This is our sweetest gin to date and it’s absolutely delicious!! I’m calling on you all to help raise some money for this incredible charity and family, remember all profit is donated, let’s go Lancashire Gin Family!!
We hope you enjoy being a part of this journey and our Lancashire Gin Family- Jay & Mike
www.lancashireginfamily.com https://www.facebook.com/lancashireginfamily
