Pub goes above and beyond
THE SNOW GOOSE LANDLORDS BRING CHEER AND HELP COMMUNITY DURING LOCKDOWN
A FARNBOROUGH pub famous locally for having pet micro pigs in the garden has gone above and beyond in supporting the community during the pandemic.
The Snow Goose, in Fernhill Road, has been cited by the Brewing Good Cheer campaign as a shining example of a pub really making a difference and putting the community first during the pandemic, a time when loneliness is at an alltime high.
Licensees Kate Hayden and Paul Warriner, along with staff members, were quick to act during the first lockdown. The pub donated hampers, loaves, eggs and toilet rolls to NHS staff struggling to buy basics due to panic buying, arranged for vulnerable people to order meat and bread from the pub’s butcher and baker and to collect it from The Snow Goose so they could avoid supermarket queues, and staff even delivered elderly customers’ newspapers to their homes.
The help for NHS workers proved so successful that the couple set up an ongoing NHS essentials service providing milk, bacon, eggs and bread at cost to key workers and NHS staff. In addition, The Snow Goose ran a food bank for selfemployed residents struggling without incomes.
Providing social contact was another key part of the pub’s outreach programme.
A special phoneline manned by staff for customers wanting a chat was set up, and social media has also been monitored so the pub could reach out to Farnborough residents in need.
Other thoughtful gestures by Kate and Paul brought cheer to the community too, from letting the pub’s pigs out daily for passing children to look at to delivering Easter eggs to the children’s ward at Frimley Park hospital.
Heineken, which ran the Brewing Good Cheer campaign that highlighted The Snow Goose, has also been involved in a report, launched on Tuesday last week, that has highlighted the impact the closure of pubs is currently having on the socially isolated.
The Open Arms report was produced by Loughborough University for The Campaign to End Loneliness and found that 76% of pub staff questioned believed the pub where they worked made a positive contribution to the local community.
An overwhelming 86% agreed with the statement ‘ when a pub closes the local community suffers’.
Kate said: “As this report shows, pubs provide one of the nation’s largest community support programmes and it’s all included in the price of a pint.
“Like other pubs, The Snow Goose is a vital meeting place for local residents; particularly those living alone who often come in daily just to enjoy the company of others.
“With pubs shut, these are lonely times for many and it’s playing havoc with their mental health. We want to do all we can to help people in Farnborough get through the pandemic. Regulars are really missing The Snow Goose and so are we, we’re desperate to get the all clear to re-open.”
Dr Thomas Thurnell-Read, a senior lecturer at Loughborough University and writer of the report, said: “Pubs can be really important settings for social activities beyond the home and the workplace, a place where people can feel a connection with others. The report reveals that for many, going to the local pub is an opportunity to get out of the house and have a conversation.
“This social contact, and the sense of connection and community it provides, has been under threat during the Covid-19 pandemic, and protecting the social role of pubs is now more important than ever.”