Hot on the heels of winning the prestigious Nick Cummins Award for community endeavour, the Ivybridge Brewing Company is going from strength to strength

It is a social enterprise that provides paid work and training opportunities for adults with learning disabilities in Ivybridge and the surrounding area.

The founder and CEO Simon Rundle was a Professor of aquatic biology at the University of Plymouth.

He explained what happened: ‘’It was 2018 and I was in my mid fifties. I wanted to try something a bit different.

“My daughter Nia has learning difficulties and I wanted to help people like her.

‘’Only just over five per cent of people like her are in meaningful work and I wanted to do something about it.’’

One of Simon’s hobbies was brewing and he saw this as the opportunity for his new project.

He explains: ‘’The Ignition Brewery in London provided the model and I visited them.

‘’They told me how to get started and find funding.’’

Simon managed to secure an initial £5,000 funding from Unlimited who are the foundation for social entrepreneurs with one of their ‘Do It’ awards to test the idea out.

The former Town Clerk Leslie Hughes gave then the free use of a small kitchen in the Town Hall.

Simon continues: ‘’I approached the Dove Project and they suggested some guys who could work on the project.’’

Initially they produced bottles of beer which were sold in gift packs in the market.

They received top-up funding of £7,500 then some more money to scale-up but then Covid came along.

After two years in the Town Hall they found larger premises at their current location at Glanvilles Mill in 2021.

They now support fourteen people in various activities such as brewing, bottling, packaging, retail and bar service.

Their first beer was Erme Pale which is still the most popular, followed by Moorland Mosaic made with fruity American hops. There’s also an amber ale caled Red Lake and their pilsner larger alled Pils 21. These are the four constants but many others are brewed including The Village- a community beer using hops grown on local allotments, Evening Porter in the winter an Equinox which is appropriately brewed twice a year.

It was recently awarded the Nick Cummins Award presented by the Mayor and named after the late Nick Cummins who was heavily involved in Manstow Football Club and epitomised community endeavour.

For more information visit: https://www.ivybridgebrewing.co.uk/