In September 2019 Northern Monk launched the For The North Foundation. The Foundation sees us offer £5,000 grants to charities and projects that provide a genuine benefit to their local community, or wider environment.

Due to the impact of COVID-19, our usual means of fundraising has been impacted by the closure of our two Refectory tap rooms, leaving us approximately £1,000 off our next £5,000 grant target. However, our team is determined to do what we can to raise that final sum.

To launch the Foundation, we carried a brew kit to the top of Ben Nevis and brewed a beer on the summit that we later sold to raise funds. So, this time we’re taking it up a notch. For our next expedition we’re tackling Mount Everest. On Sunday 10th May we’re going to be climbing Everest from home.

The ascent and descent of Mount Everest will be split between a team of 30 Monks and 30 staircases. We will be carrying the equivalent weight of the brew kit between us and Brian, our Head Brewer, will once again brew at the summit, which this time will be the first-floor stairwell at the brewery.

This grant will be awarded to Rooted, an inspirational organisation based in Bradford that work to support young girls from inner-city schools, equipping and encouraging them through nature and nurture. This grant will allow Rooted to further develop their pilot project that aims to provide specialist support and refuge to young women who have been subject to abuse.

We would massively appreciate any support that you can offer to help us provide Rooted with the full £5,000 grant. Any funds raised above the £1,000 needed for this grant will form the start of the next grant fund. We’re also going to match all funds raised. Again, the funds raised in parallel will be used to kick-start funding for our next For The North Foundation grant.

These testing times require true commitment to our communities both local and national, commitments that we’re going to do all that we can to uphold.

We’ll be documenting our progress via @northernmonk on Instagram this Sunday, head over to our account to see how we’re getting on during the day.

Thank you, and Keep the Faith.