A Staffordshire crisp producer has thrown its support behind a farmer’s bid to row 3,000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean in memory of his son who died of meningitis.
Anthony Froggatt, owner of the award-winning Just Crisps and Just Oil brand, has produced 40,000 special edition packets of crisps to help farmer Rod Adlington and the Brightsides crew to fundraise for Get A-Head Charitable Trust and Meningitis Now. by taking part in the Atlantic Dash ocean rowing regatta.
They hope to raise at least £250,000 from their efforts racing two other teams, navigating 40-foot waves in their specially-designed rowing boat and sleeping for just 90 minutes at a time.
The crisps – handcooked at the Froggatt family farm in Rugeley – have been packaged in bags with special stickers to raise awareness of the Brightsides and a QR code which enables people to donate directly to the cause.
They are now in the process of being distributed to pubs, farm shops, delis and independent retailers across the UK.
Anthony said: “We really hope that when people see the stickers, they will be interested enough to scan the QR code to find out more about the Brightsides and this amazing challenge.
“I’ve known Rod for about 15 years and when I heard he was going to row across the Atlantic, my first thought was ‘typical Rod’. He’s always looking for a challenge and this will certainly be that.
“I think he and the rest of the crew are extremely brave and we wanted to do something to show our support for them as well as help them raise awareness and vital funds for these two incredible charities.”
Anthony, pictured above, grows all his own potatoes on site at Wade Lane Farm and it’s taken approximately six tons of potatoes to produce 40,000 special edition packets for the Brightsides.
Rod, from Solihull, lost his son Barney at the age of three within 24 hours of being diagnosed with meningitis. He would have been 21 this year.
Rod and a team of three others started the row from Lanzarote on 3 January. It is expected to take them several weeks to complete the challenge.
