Bristol gin distillery Psychopomp is making hand sanitiser to give away for free

A gin distillery in Bristol has started making its own hand sanitiser, which it is giving away to people in the local community for free.

When the illness began to spread rapidly across the UK and people were advised to wash their hands regularly, hand sanitiser and soap flew off the shelves of shops and supermarkets across the city, with some people stockpiling the product.

To help with the increased demand, the expert gin distillers at Psychopomp on St Michael’s Hill have turned their attention to making antibacterial hand gel instead.

Instead of charging people for the product, they are instead giving it away for free in 100ml bottles and asking for donations towards Bristol Royal Hospital for Children.

Danny Walker, the microbrewery’s owner, said: “We were having a chat the other week and all agreed how poor it was that people were stockpiling sanitiser, leaving none for the most vulnerable people.

Psychopomp distillery on St Michael's Hill (Michael Lloyd Photography)

“We realised we had all the ingredients needed to make it ourselves so initially made some just for staff and family members.

“But then we decided to go further and make a lot more of it so we could start giving it away to people in the community, particularly those who need it most due to health conditions, or people who are really anxious about coronavirus.

“We're not charging for it as that would be a scummy thing to do, so instead we’re giving it away for free and asking for donations towards the children's hospital.

“The demand for it has been really high so far so we’re going to keep making it for as long as people need it.”

Danny, who launched the distillery in 2014, said he is hopeful of securing a change of use to his licence, which would allow him and his staff to make larger batches of the product.

He said making the sanitiser is "relatively easy" if you have all the ingredients to hand, which his team does, and that they are following a recipe on the World Health Organization's (WHO) website.

Psychopomp at 145 St Michael's Hill, Bristol BS2 8DB will be distilling hand sanitiser daily, open between 12pm - 6pm for collection.