Arran Brewery has launched a sponsorship programme aimed at new authors, artists and composers throughout the UK.
The sponsorship is open to any entrepreneurial writer, composer or artist that has shown determination in bringing their creation to life. It is worth over £1,000 and will be given in the form of consultancy on marketing, as well as a break in the Isle of Arran Brewery Guesthouse or Loch Earn Brewery Hotel and Visitor Centre to get the creative juices flowing. Additionally, Arran Brewery will also purchase the winner’s work to get them off to a flying start, which will also be sold in the brewery shop.
The 2016 inaugural writer being sponsored is Caroline Wedd (pictured), who has written her first novel ‘The Walnut Tree’ and published it herself both on Amazon Kindle and in hard copy.
Arran Brewery Managing Director Gerald Michaluk said: “Caroline is a gifted writer and her work has all the hallmarks of a bestseller. It has been a great joy to assist, in this small way, her journey to becoming a bestselling author”.
The Walnut Tree is a gritty family saga with a strong rural element, which Wedd wrote in a shed at the bottom of her garden while bringing up her three children.
The brewery has purchased 100 copies of ‘The Walnut Tree’ for sale in its shop on Arran.
This programme replaces the brewery’s ad-hoc sponsorship and will focus on new talent. It is intended that the sponsorship will be announced annually.
To fund the sponsorship, a beer will be launched similar to Arran’s successful programme of supporting Red Squirrel charities with its ‘Arran Red Squirrel’ ale.
Artists, writers and composers wishing to be considered for sponsorship should write in the first instance to Arran Brewery marking their envelope ‘Artist, Writer or Composer’. The brewery will not acknowledge applications. The package of support will vary depending upon the stage and needs of those being sponsored.
