A great light was recently extinguished, as the gentleman Dick Bradsell passed away.

Whether you've made Espresso Martinis on one side of the bar, or enjoyed them on the other, here is your chance to support a cause that really mattered to Dick: The Benevolent

With the permission of his daughter Bea, I've set up a campaign to raise money for this terrific charity.

Whether you met Dick across the bar, were trained by him, or merely enjoyed one of his creations, from the Vodka Espresso to the Treacle, be like Dick and pay it forward. Leave a donation on this page and a message celebrating his life.

Suggestions for how to raise money:

Your tips for the day/week

The money you'd usually spend on this week's drinking

Auction off something you value - that classic bottle of tequila, your book, etc.

My connection:

I am not a bartender. When I met Dick I was a consumer, a bar fly, and in many ways I still am. When we started Shaken I took the idea to Dick who said “Finally, something online I can trust, by someone I can trust.” This gave me the confidence to make Shaken happen, and when he agreed to be our cocktail advisor I was delighted and proud.

Working with Dick was always the same. We'd meet at The French in Soho, then up the road for tea and cake. We both liked flapjack. He'd critique our serves, gently but sternly tell us off if we made a mistake about cocktail history, then he'd dash off for a game of Dungeons & Dragons. It was one of the highlights of each month.

In 2015, I saw his last shift at El Camion: I knew he wasn't well but he had managed to hide it for so long and just go to work. That day was different. But no matter how ill he got, he still wanted to honour the commitment. By text, occasionally in person, and with the help of his daughter Bea, we'd sit and work out serves, have tea and he'd remind me that authenticity was paramount. The last box we worked on was a tequila box with Ocho – how wonderfully fitting.

They say never meet your heroes. I say it depends who your heroes are.