Charity raises glass to Bacardi for hand sanitiser donation

The Scottish SPCA has raised a glass to Bacardi after the drinks company donated much-needed hand sanitiser to the animal welfare charity.

Like many organisation, the Scottish SPCA has faced shortages of the product due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Anna O’Donnell, manger at the Scottish’s SPCA’s animal rescue and rehoming centre in Glasgow, said: “Hand sanitiser is something we desperately needed, but due to limited resources and increased prices on online sites there was no way we could ask members of the public to donate this.

“This donation from Bacardi will allow our team to keep themselves safe while carrying out their vital work looking after the animals in our care.

“We are still working hard behind the scenes to make sure that animals like Kaz the chihuahua don’t suffer.

“We really are very grateful to Bacardi for helping us at this difficult time.”

The five Bacardi-owned distilleries in Scotland – Aberfeldy, Craigellachie, Aultmore, Royal Brackla and Macduff – along with its Glasgow-based Dewar’s whisky operations centre have produced more than 8500 litres of hand sanitiser over the past month.

Globally, 14 Bacardi production sites worldwide have produced more than 1.5 million litres of sanitiser for donation to local communities.

As well as the Scottish SPCA, donations have also been made to frontline workers at local care homes, hospitals, the Scottish Ambulance Service and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

Niall Mitchell, UK operations director for Bacardi, said: “Our Dewar’s whisky operations centre in the East End of Glasgow and our distilleries across Scotland are proud supporters of their local communities, so supplying hand sanitiser to local healthcare workers and charities like the Scottish SPCA has been incredibly rewarding.

“As a family-owned company, doing the right thing is in Bacardi’s DNA and we’ll continue doing all we can to help make a difference in the fight against Covid-19.”

Although the Scottish SPCA’s centres are currently closed to the public, donations can still be made via scottishspca.org/amazon-wishlist.