John, a student of Goodwin Academy School in Deal, Kent kept falling asleep throughout lessons, which raised both frustration and concerns with his teachers and the senior leadership team. John is well-mannered, pleasant, a little scruffy but a proud young man and found the experience of sharing his problems with the school difficult, as many do. John’s mother is incredibly hard working, in fact she works several jobs as she is the only source of income, which places strains onto John and his two younger siblings. Life for them all is tough, much harder than many imagine, let alone understand. John’s mother survives on very little and will often will go without meals and the simplest of essentials purely to provide for her children. It is a constant struggle as she must juggle her family’s very existence from providing a roof over their heads, to food and warmth. Her love is unconditional, costs nothing to provide and her children suffer no hardship in this quarter. However, she has been unable to provide adequate warmth for her children.

John explained that the cold winter has been hard for them as they have been unable to afford heating in their small flat, with the long nights being the hardest. John and his mother struggle to sleep as they are cold. The youngsters are wrapped-up tight in all available bedding whereas John and his mother sleep in their clothes and coats as their priority is to keep the young ones warm. The classroom provides comfort and warmth and John inevitably turns to deep sleeps instead of learning. Of course, the teachers of Goodwin Academy rallied and provided sacks full of bed linen, which now provide night time warmth for the whole family.

I sat for several hours with Ann-Marie, the Vice Principal of Goodwin Academy School and she spoke openly about the children at her school. She cares deeply, and I cannot imagine how she wrestles with her emotions as some of the situations are difficult to accept. I was overwhelmed with sadness and cannot sit back without attempting to make a difference, which I have every intention of achieving. Sadly, John is not alone as the Thanet and Dover areas have two of the highest rates of child poverty in Kent and the south east, with around 17,200 children affected. As much as we would love to help each and every child, sadly we cannot however, we can make a difference to the children at Goodwin Academy. We have taken on a greater role and hope to support every child, not just those who are struggling financially, those in foster care or children from broken homes as I have learnt that children outside of these brackets often miss-out as much of the remedial support work, day trips and additional finances are not made available to them.

The Vinorium Foundation has presented each child with the opportunity to earn a gift voucher of £50.00 upon 100% attendance combined with good behaviour. Those children sitting between 98-99% will receive a gift voucher for £30.00 and children sitting above 97% will receive a £10.00 gift voucher. The Vinorium Foundation will fund all prizes. A special awards ceremony will be organised as we believe that each and every child should receive their gifts in front of their fellow students to huge claps and cheers. How wonderful for them all and something I am already looking forward to.

In addition, we have invested £1000.00 and created a stationery shop. Every item within the shop will be on a tariff, which is already worked out and has been checked for 'value' and 'fairness' with the students. The school has a spreadsheet ready to go which allows merits to accumulate, and which will also register exchanges for the stationery, so that every student's tally is automatically updated. Sixth form students will operate the stationery shop as part of their service to the school and it is to be housed in the library, encouraging greater use and familiarity for students who may not go there regularly already. This has already had spin-off benefits before we sell anything - student voice and sixth form community service.

A few words from Ann-Marie, the Vice Principal “Everyone at Goodwin Academy has the wellbeing and success of its young people at the heart of everything they do, day in, day out. Challenges faced by many students are hard-hitting and long-lasting in their detrimental effects, especially when due to family circumstances. Education should become the route to a better life with options and choices that we take for granted. Yet all too often, these barriers appear to become insurmountable and the young person becomes another statistic of what might have been, had their potential been fully realised. Working with The Vinorium Foundation allows us to be that much more creative in how we tackle this; it allows us to demonstrate what is possible and reward those children that dare to dream with us and who put the steps into action to fulfil those dreams. In short, it brings hope of a kind that is rarely found in schools, because it focuses on qualities and attributes that everyone can develop, which will be of life-long use. Additionally, it takes account of the community, providing a means to develop relationships and to promote the benefits of working hard, with purpose and with courage.”

For me, Christmas 2019 was particularly difficult to enjoy as, and being the UK’s leading Australian wine specialist, I found the scale of the Australian wildfire crisis difficult to comprehend. We have been in contact with all our producers, who are fortunately faring better than many. Of course, it is impossible for them not to be affected as the Aussie wine community is close-knit – learning of friend’s vineyards burning by the ravaging fires is hard for everyone. But vineyards can be replanted, and in some cases, buds are appearing on scorched vines which is a super sign. What cannot be replaced is the devastating loss of human life and wildlife. Tragically, 25 people have perished and in New South Wales alone, the fires have killed nearly 500 million birds, reptiles and mammals which I found unfathomable.

The Vinorium is incredibly proud to support our local community but we feel we must offer support to those affected in Australia.

I am sure we will be returning to the ‘support’ project throughout the course of 2020 however, and for now, we are inviting customers and all friends, to bid on a fabulous parcel of wine. We are donating a collection consisting of 103 bottles which represent all our UK exclusive wine producers.

We are requesting that you e-mail the team directly with your ‘bid’ to purchase this wonderful collection. 100% of the proceeds will be donated to one or shared between several of the bushfire relief funds. I acknowledge that the following sentence may not be politically correct however, this is not an opportunity to pick-up a bargain. Given the scale of the tragedy we cannot consider any bids below £3,000.00. We are happy to deliver throughout the UK and Europe without charge. I hope we receive lots of bids and many exceeding the ‘minimum.’ If this is the case, we will happily donate a second, or even a third collection.

In this day and age, I find child poverty appalling, with four million children affected (in the UK alone), but this number is set to reach five million by the end of this year. Nine children in each and every classroom of thirty live in poverty, which is wholly unacceptable and set to worsen.

I am conscious that selling expensive wines may appear hypocritical versus my standpoint over child poverty. I come from a classical background – my parents separated in my very early teens and money was always tight however, my mother was tremendous, a great cook and baker and our greenhouse always packed with summer produce. Society relies far too much on convenience food which is often costly and lacks nourishment. It has also become lazy which is an endemic problem – living on handouts has become the accepted normal for many, which I do not entirely understand.  By the time I started secondary school, I held down lots of jobs; a double paper round (eight mile loop) which I ran each morning. A quick breakfast followed, and then off I went to my Mother’s playschool to set out the toys. It was a comfortable two mile run to school, and all this before 8:30am. Weekends were spent either at West Ham (I was signed on their books) or in a local pub kitchen as their trusty pot wash for £10.00 per day. I was self-sufficient as I earnt in the region of £30.00 per week – I funded all my sportswear and never needed to burden my mother with the worry of funding a young teenager.

Today, I own and run (with the support of my great team) a multi-million pound wine company however, this has not created distance from my past and my ethics remain unchanged. Our foundation supports random acts of goodness as well as our continued work with our chosen school.

I asked the deputy head for some statistics and commentary a few weeks back; “As you will appreciate, due to the covid situation, the amount of families that are experiencing difficulties has increased and this time of year makes it even more challenging. I have identified families that fit the criteria of being financially vulnerable due to either unemployment, family illness, low income or loss, working with our Safeguard Lead and Wellbeing Manager. We have 240 students who are pupil premium but around 70 who would be classified as at risk of not being able to provide for their families at Christmas.”

Without wine and your continued support, we would not be in a position to help… This week we received 70 Sainsbury’s vouchers, each one provided is valued at £100.00. I accept it’s not a huge amount, but I do know it will make all the difference as we approach Christmas. Those 70 families that have been classified as at risk of not being able to provide for their families will be receiving a Sainsbury’s voucher, along with a little hamper supplied by the teachers… I would also like to thank Pragna, Nick and Miles for bolstering our contribution.

Personally, the lack of money is the tip of the iceberg and will not necessarily solve the problem which is often down to willingness and the all-important ‘I-can attitude’ which I know is missing. Once the school is safe for me to visit, I will be spending the coming years regularly teaching the children that they can succeed with little money. Most need an entrepreneurial kick-up the arse and then ongoing guidance from someone who has come from the exact same position as them…

Stuart McCloskey Founder, The Vinorium