Claire shelves food venture launch to join scrub makers in Covid-19 fight

reached Northern Ireland. And everything changed.

“I’d been working on the development of the natural sea salt business, the first in Northern Ireland, over many months and had started initial marketing of the product to chefs on the Causeway Coast,” Claire (40) says. “There was a lot of interest from leading chefs in hotels and restaurants along the Causeway Coast in the natural sea salt I harvest fresh from local beaches.”

The Covid-19 outbreak led to the shuttering of the hotels, restaurants and many delis on Claire’s target list for the novel salt.

“This was a devastating blow which left me with no alternative but to put the product and business on hold. Of course I was extremely disappointed because I had put a tremendous amount of effort and funds into researching and developing the product. Sea salt is popular in other parts of the UK and Ireland with chefs and gourmet cooks because it has a richer flavour and texture than traditional table salt,” she continues.

Claire, a specialist in personal development and psychology, quickly found a new challenge for her talents and commitment. She joined the Coleraine community battle against the virus by adding her organisational skills to the drive to provide essential scrubs for frontline NHS workers.

“I had heard about the inspirational work of NI Scrubs and decided to support the Causeway group involved in sewing scrubs for the courageous staff at our own hospital here in Coleraine. I was keen to do whatever I could to assist NHS staff in their tremendous endeavours to save lives. I reckoned there’s no more important job at the moment for a ‘civilian’ than providing the protective equipment they need in vast quantities. The only way we are going to get the better of the virus is by pulling together and by helping those on the frontline of the fight to save lives.

“While I can sew and have been making scrubs, my skills are mainly in the organisational side. I am helping to co-ordinate and develop the amazing work of the team,” Claire, a native of Coleraine, adds.

“I’ve been overwhelmed by the scale of and enthusiastic support from the local community for the initiative. The group currently has around 360 members including 100 sewers with the rest either driving to collect materials and deliver scrubs or donating.”

The initiative has also been backed by local chefs led by Derek Steele, key figure in the local hospitality industry which has been locked down for many weeks. This group has just launched a fund raising drive to support the sewers. The chefs will be providing recipes to a local publication and other outlets for supporters to try during the fundraiser.

Claire continues: “This is a great idea from Derek and the other chefs. They will be bringing popular menu recipes to allow people to try out and recreate a restaurant standard experience from the safe comfort of their own homes. It’s timely because the lockdown has meant more people are now cooking at home. It will also show the strength of their appreciation for our NHS super heroes.”

Derek Steele has opened a Just Giving site – Causeway Chefs-4-NHS being managed by the Bushmills Trust, a registered charity based in Bushmills. Proceeds go to NI Scrubs Causeway Coast. Funds raised will support the Causeway sewers in buying essential materials to produce and deliver the garments and help support the increasing demand for what they are doing. They’ve already made thousands of scrubs and other garments for the NHS.

Claire hopes the battle against the terrible virus will be won “sooner rather than later” and she will be able to revive her small business and “get some much needed cash flowing again”.

Claire describes the sea salt business as “no brainer”. “The water quality here is exceptionally clean because of its unique geographic location in the dynamic, fresh and invigorating coastal waters of the Atlantic and the Irish Sea. This leads to a very pure salt for limited processing in my plant. Harvesting and processing are carried out by hand to ensure a perfect and fully traceable sea salt,” she says.

The salt has been thoroughly tested and passed all requirements. Development of the new sea salt has also been encouraged by local celebrity chef Paula McIntyre and the very active Taste Causeway food and drink promotion body. Taste Causeway represents the region’s successful and fast developing food and drink industry through a broad range of activities including mentoring, marketing and business development. There’s now a significant cluster of artisan and smaller food and drink ventures in the area.

“Research shows that sea salt is the least refined with no added preservatives, anti-caking agents or chemicals. Our production ensures minerals such as potassium

and essential enzymes are preserved. The process also ensures flakes with a distinctive texture and richer flavour,” she concludes.

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