A very successful evening for Bristol Twenty and Above & Beyond
As many of our customers know, we recently launched a very special new blend, in memory of our founding father Roy Ireland.
Image of Roy Ireland by Nick Church Photography
Our father and company founder, Roy Ireland, unfortunately lost his war against cancer around a year ago. It was his third battle and even though he fought incredibly hard up until the very end, we don’t think he quite had the energy later in life to combat this horrible disease.
There are now an estimated 2.5 million people living with cancer in the UK, with this figure set to rise to around 4 million by 2030. Cancer in the older generation is up by 25% since 2010, with an estimated 980 new cases diagnosed each day. By 2020 1 in 2 people will get cancer at
some point in their lives – a scary statistic.
Dad spent time in the Bristol Royal Infirmary and Southmead hospital, both of which are part of the University Hospitals Bristol NHS Foundation Trust. He always had such good things to say about both units, with high praise for the facilities and all of the staff, from the porters to the specialists. He received the most amazing care, for which we will always be thankful.
“Although cases of cancer are rising dramatically, the rate of people dying of cancer are rising much less slowly, this is thanks to the amazing work, not only by cancer research & specialists, but also to the outstanding work being done by our hospitals.”
As a company we felt it only fitting that in his memory we gave back to the people who made such a traumatic time, bearable and sometimes even enjoyable. This is why we are so proud to be working in partnership with Above & Beyond, the charity for Bristol city centre hospitals, to produce our 21TEN – Roy Ireland Memorial blend
Those who knew dad will remember that he had ‘simple’ tastes, favouring quality, especially when it came to coffee. His tastes arked back to a simpler time, and although he embraced the coffee revolution as it evolved, he liked a traditional coffee in his cup. 21TEN is an ode to this approach to coffee, with a modern twist. A special blend of top quality Brazilian Santos, Fair Trade Costa Rican Strictly Hard Bean and unique washed Indian Robusta. Roasted by us, here in Bristol.
Great care was taken when designing the overall feel of the coffee, not just the taste, so that it stood as a testament to a great father and a characterful company figure head. The creative design team at Riley & Thomas did a fantastic job to incorporate dad’s passion for rugby and his favourite colours in to the label design.
The name 21TEN was carefully chosen, marking dad’s date of birth not his passing, to celebrate an eventful life. To honour our dad and to celebrate the launch of our 21TEN blend, we recently held a launch party at the brand new Radnor Rooms in Bristol.
The launch night was a fantastic evening all round. We were joined by friends, family, close friends of dad and customers of Bristol Twenty. Supporters, staff and friends from Above & Beyond also joined us for the evening’s celebrations.
Guests were greeted on arrival with a 21TEN blend coffee, made by Bristol Twenty’s Chris and Aaron who expertly manned the machines on the evening. Along with arrival coffee, our guests were also treated to themed canapes and 21TEN blend espresso martinis out in the April sunshine. The weather was superb, right up until the speeches were about to be made. The skies opened, followed by very dramatic thunder and lightning. We joke that it was dad, a bit jealous that he couldn’t be with us on the evening as it’s an event and coffee he would have loved.
The evening offered guests the opportunity to get to know both Bristol Twenty and Above & Beyond better. Finding out more about the tireless work Above & Beyond do to ensure hospitals are more welcoming and comfortable for patients and their families.
Above & Beyond is the official charity for Bristol’s City Centre Hospitals, who fund things that go above and beyond the NHS’s budget to ensure that Bristol’s Hospitals are the best they possibly can be for all who use them.
Above & Beyond have recently funded Chair Beds for Bristol Oncology hospital. Following comments from nurses that family members were sleeping on upright chairs or on blow up mattresses brought in from home. They asked the charity to fundraise for beds so that family members can stay by their loved one’s side during their final days.
We were honoured to see so many of our suppliers, customers and colleagues in the coffee world join us for the evening including, Oliver’s Ice Cream, Middlecombe Nursery, White’s Botanicals, Astrum Accountants, Chartley Coffee, and many more. There was even support from top children’s entertainers Sharky & George and members of our Royal Navy.
After the thunder subsided and a quick espresso martini to calm the nerves, speeches were made by our Rory from Bristol Twenty and Catherine from Above & Beyond. Our speeches complimented each other well and evoked a good laugh and a few teary eyes throughout the room. We were all overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity, especially one young girl and her father who kindly donated £100 on the evening. We are also very thankful to the Radnor Rooms for donating the space for the event and White Botanicals and Mr Wolfs for supplying the food and drink.
After our speeches, we were all treated to the most wonderful coffee themed food, served up by the fantastic staff at the Radnor Rooms. We tucked in to a selection of sticky BBQ ribs rubbed with coffee and pepper; espresso brined and sea salted chicken thighs; cajun coffee vegan shrimp with apricot and courgette salad, served with a blue cheese and citrus espresso dressing. This was all rounded off with the most delicious 2 tier cappuccino cake, made with 21TEN coffee.
The evening was a roaring success and raised just shy of £1000 which will go straight to the incredible work Above & Beyond do for our hospitals. We couldn’t be prouder of our partnership and hope that our customers will choose our new 21TEN blend as their coffee offering to help support such a fantastic cause.
21TEN makes the perfect guest coffee blend!
If you are interested in featuring 21TEN in your coffee offering, or featuring the coffee as a guest blend, please call us on 0843 557 4669 or email sales@bristol-twenty.co.uk to make your coffee offering have a real impact on Bristol City care.
If you work for a company in the South West and would like to make a difference to Bristol’s hospitals, visit the Support Us At Work page or contact Catherine Harris on 0117 370 0846 or email catherine.harris@aboveandbeyond.org.uk
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