ALMR chief launches bid to fund emergency services bar tab

A crowdfunding scheme to buy a round of drinks for the emergency services that responded to last week’s terrorist attack in London has been launched by the Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers (ALMR)'s chief executive.

The initiative set up by ALMR chief executive Kate Nicholls aims to raise £2,000 to go behind the bar of a pub in the London Bridge area.

Nicholls said the crowdfunding idea was “born out of a sense of wanting to do something for the hard work done by the emergency services”.

She said: “Saturday’s incident was an attack on our way of life and the small pleasures that we get from going out with friends and socialising. The emergency services were putting their lives on the line to protect our freedom to do that.”

The idea of the bar tab is that, when a venue has been confirmed, police and hospital staff will be able to go to the pub with their work identification and get a free drink.

A similar initiative was set up in Manchester after the bombing of the Manchester Arena. A collection to provide emergency service workers with a drink at the Turing Tap, a pub next to Manchester Royal Infirmary, raised more than £10,000.

Nicholls said she hoped that the London crowdfunding scheme would raise more than the £2,000 target.