Raising A Glass To New “Community Pub” Fund

Added on Wed 14th Apr 2010 by Admin (Web designer)

A new initiative has been launched by the Plunkett Foundation and the Office of the Third Sector to encourage community-run pubs.

The £3 million Community-Owned Pubs Support Programme will help up to 50 local partnerships to set up and run community pubs over the next three years. The initiative will be supported by a number of experienced organisations including Pub is the Hub, Co-operative and Community Finance, Co-operativesUK, CAMRA and the Co-Operative Development Network.

The scheme will support community ownership through a mixture of funding, advice and support. Grants will be matched with loans from Co-operative and Community Finance, while information will also be provided on how to open and run a community pub.

Chief executive of the Plunkett Foundation, Peter Couchman, said:

“Pubs are vitally important to communities. They provide places where people can come together to socialise and join in a number of community activities.

“Community ownership can secure the future of pubs, just as it is doing for village shops, through harnessing the creativity and energy of a whole community.”

A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said:

“This is an exciting way of enabling 50 communities to come together to buy and own their own pub. Communities will be able to use the building to offer other services they want and need, which will improve community cohesion and also provide opportunities for members to gain new skills.

“It will also create a network of community hubs across England which will act as inspiration to a range of communities, and increase awareness of social enterprise, and mutual approaches to self help within communities.”