Manchester brewery creates Trailblazer Fund to support small charities in the North West
Howard Lake | 1 June 2026 | News
Manchester’s Joseph Holt brewery has establishing an annual fund intended to provide a significant boost to small, often-overlooked registered charities across the North West.
The brewery, which operates 127 pubs throughout Manchester and the wider North West region, is launching the “Trailblazer Fund,” which will gift £15,000 to a single small registered charity each year operating within its pub catchment areas. Organisations in any of these areas are eligible to apply.
The fund is named after a specific product, Trailblazer, the first stout ever produced in Joseph Holt’s 176-year history. Launched in 2020, the stout is selling well, even managing “to outperform Guinness” in blind taste tests despite the Irish brewer’s 250-year heritage, according to the brewery.
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A brewery spokesperson said that the fund seeks to channel this same pioneering spirit by supporting charities that are themselves “blazing their own trails and driving meaningful change in their communities.”
Jane Kershaw, a director at Joseph Holt and the sixth generation of the family to work for the business, highlighted the rationale behind the new fund. She explained that the concept is rooted in the shared local importance of both small, independent charities and Joseph Holt pubs, which are “often at the heart of local life,” just like the pubs themselves.
She said: “Through the Trailblazer Fund, we want to strengthen that role by supporting organisations doing vital work in their communities—whether tackling homelessness, improving mental health, alleviating poverty or enhancing wellbeing. We hope this funding will help these essential services reach even more people.”
Which charities can apply?
Charities working within any area covered by the brewery’s North West pub estate are eligible to apply for the grant.
Applications for the Joseph Holt Trailblazer Fund are open now and close “at the beginning of September.”
Following this deadline, a selection panel comprising members from across the brewery will convene to select the recipient of the £15,000 grant, judging which organisation best embodies the pioneering spirit of the fund.
Other stout support for good causes
The Trailblazer Fund is the latest extension of a long tradition of corporate philanthropy at the brewery, which was founded in 1849 by weaver’s son Joseph Holt. The company’s history includes notable “trailblazing” figures, such as Sir Edward Holt, whose philanthropic efforts were instrumental in bringing fresh water from the Lake District to Manchester. Furthermore, Sir Edward was one of the original founders of the Christie Hospital and the Holt Radium Institute.
The new fund will operate alongside Joseph Holt’s existing annual charity appeal. This appeal raises money across the entire pub estate for designated causes, with the current campaign aiming to raise an impressive £250,000 for four different children’s charities.
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About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.