Spirit of the Royal Navy lives on!

When the Royal Navy finally terminated the daily rum ration to serving sailors in July, 1970, it was decided that the money saved would be used to set up a fund to provide amenities for serving personnel. The Royal Navy Sailors' Fund, as it was called, quickly became known as the Tot Fund, and when Pusser's Rum began to produce the authentic Navy blend in 1979, chairman Charles Tobias promised that a donation would be made to the Tot Fund in perpetuity for every bottle sold worldwide.

Twenty five years later, Pusser's has contributed some GBP750,000 to the fund, and the company is now the largest single contributor to the fund outside of the original bequest. To prove the spirit of the Tot Fund is still going strong, Charles Tobias recently visited HMS Victory, Admiral Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, to hand over the latest cheque to the Second Sea Lord, and Commander in Chief of Naval Home Command, Vice-Admiral James Burnell-Nugent CBE ADC.

The event took place on the quarterdeck of the historic vessel, and saw Charles not only hand over a cheque for some $41,000 for the Tot Fund, but also present the Second Sea Lord with a Pusser's Rum Nelson ship's decanter. It's obvious that the Second Sea Lord was delighted with the latest contribution to the Tot Fund, although one can't help thinking that the decanter was what caused the bigger smile...