Greene King continues support of Community Services Fund

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Greene King has made a donation of £15,000 to Pub is The Hub’s Community Services Fund in order to help to support rural pubs who want to diversify their services for the benefit of their communities. This is the third year Greene King has given to the fund, bringing the total donated to £45,000.

The Community Services Fund, which has been available since April 2013, aims to offer funds to licensees who are looking to broaden their services to the wider community but are unable to find suitable funding from other sources. With grants available of up to £4,000, applicants have to demonstrate that they will be offering a new service or replacing a service that has already been lost to the local community, such as a local shop or a library.

Since 2013 the Pub is The Hub Community Services Fund has:

  • Supported 55 projects in England and Wales
  • Helped create more than 112 additional services, carried out by licensees and benefited a population of over 60,000 local people
  • Generated a further £180,000 raised from government and industry as additional project funding, while
  • There are a further 27 projects currently in the pipeline waiting for funding

In addition, for every £1 that is invested in the Community Service Fund by Pub is The Hub, a further £1 is matched or invested by public funding or private investment.

John Longden, chief executive of Pub is The Hub said: “We are enormously grateful that Greene King has continued to endorse the work we have done to date with the Community Services Fund. Their much needed injection of cash will press the green light on several new projects awaiting the go-ahead for funds and to have their support inspires our own advisors’ work. Their most recent donation will support the equivalent of at least £30,000 in real improvements to rural and community services through the outstanding efforts of licensees who are inspired to broaden their appeal and long-term viability.”

Rooney Anand, Greene King’s chief executive said: “Pubs have always played a really important role in the community and by supporting the Community Services Fund means we can help pubs to provide other services in their local area. It is great to see licensees offer their locals something more than a pie and a pint, such as a library in a pub or providing a postal service when the local post office has closed down. I look forward to seeing the progress and positive impact the Community Services Fund will make again this year.”

 

Jerry and Sharon Bird who run the Three Horsehoes in Charsfield in Suffolk are typical of the sort of rural pub that has received support from Pub is The Hub’s Community Services Fund. In July they opened a farm shop in their pub’s outbuilding to sell local produce, convenience foods and home grown plants.

The photograph shows Jerry and Sharon Bird from The Three Horseshoes in Charsfield, Suffolk with some of their farm shop produce.