Let the festivities be gin: fundraising spirit relaunched for Christmas

Until 2019 I was working as a community staff nurse. I loved my job and still miss it, but I had to medically retire due to my MS. I experience numbness in my legs, brain fog, and fatigue. So there’s no way I could’ve continued nursing.

My husband Allan and I share a love of gin. After retiring from the police force he ended up running a market stall. Among other things, he started selling Scottish produce including gin from Strathearn Distillery in Perthshire.

We’re friends with the previous owner of that distillery and he let us make our own recipe gin there. We released that in 2017 as Selkirk Gin, which we still sell today. We now have our own premises in The Borders where we make a range of spirits.

Running a business while living with MS

I can do wee things at the distillery but my husband has to run the business. I do enjoy organising star-shaped bottles and making gin crackers at Christmas.

I can do some of that work at home, which is good, especially with my fatigue. But sometimes my fingers and hands aren’t great – it just depends on the kind of day I’m having.

Finding a way to give back to the MS Society

I’m a member of The Borders local group and so is my friend Kirsty Bennett. We’ve both benefited from activities such as Pilates, yoga and Tai Chi run by the Wellbeing Hub and we wanted to give something back.

Kirsty’s husband Scott and I were meant to do a fundraising skydive, but it was postponed during the pandemic. We were talking about alternative ways to raise funds and Kirsty suggested making an MS Society gin.

Bringing the 1953 Gin to life

My sister, Emma Gentleman, is a qualified distiller. And Kirsty and I worked with her to create the gin. It’s a London dry gin with fresh, floral aromas. I’m not going to give away all the botanicals! But it’s created from local botanicals and elderberries and cardamom are definitely in there.

We named it the 1953 Gin after the year the MS Society was formed by Richard and Mary Cave. We were lucky enough to be given permission to use the official MS Society Scotland’s tartan in the bottle design.

Explore MS Society history

We launched the gin through a virtual tasting session. It was about two weeks before Christmas in 2020. 150 people signed up so we were very busy sending out all the samples for people to try. It was a great success.

We’ve made 450 litres of the 1953 Gin so far. And thanks to the tasting night and sales, we’ve already raised a total of £4,050.

Relaunching the gin in time for Christmas

Earlier this year Kirsty was shortlisted for an Impact Award. And a video of us talking about the gin was played at MS Society Scotland’s Connecting Our MS Community event in Stirling. People started asking us where they could buy it.

We decided to make another batch, redesign the bottles, and try to raise even more funds. Everyone’s struggling right now, including charities, so it felt like the right time to do it.

Gin filled stars for your Christmas tree

We’ve released 20cl bottles as well this time because they’re more affordable and better for people who want to try it. We’ll also be selling 4cl star-shaped bottles in time for Christmas. We’ve sold some of our other gins in the star bottles and people have used them for small gifts and even wedding favours.

I know I’m biased but I think the 1953 Gin tastes great! Every purchase raises funds for a very important cause as well as helping raise awareness of MS.

Kirsty and I are really keen to help make sure everyone with MS can access the support they need from the point of diagnosis. Making and selling the 1953 Gin is just one way of doing that, this Christmas and beyond.