PIRATE-THEMED BAR WILL HAVE YOU HOOKED!
Military pals hope venue will help veterans
MILITARY friends Lee Dale and Brendon Agnew are hoping to make a real splash with their venue – a new pirate-themed rum bar.
The Drunken Parrot, on Newcastle’s Merrial Street, specialises in a wide range of tasty rums and other drinks to cater for a wider audience.
And Lee, who also has a roofing business, along with Brendon, hope the venue – which has been open for around a week – will provide a space to support local veterans, having both been involved in the military.
Brendon, aged 30, of Chesterton, said: “We’re really good friends. We share the ex-military thing.
“This was an idea we had three years ago. I’m due to leave, I’ve got five months left until my official leaving date.
“We’re working with the veteran support centre in Newcastle to help veterans – maybe once-a-month when we’re not open to run a social event. We’re also hoping to start a soup kitchen once a month.
“We have signed up with Keele Students’ Union to get some volunteers to come along.”
Both being fans of rum, they thought they’d offer something to complement the number of gin bars in the area.
Brendon said: “We just progressed on the theme – Caribbean, spiced rum, then pirates!
“We want to have DJS and themenights. We’re trying to cater to everybody.
“We’re not a cocktail bar, though we do do some just to cater for that clientele.
“We will also get some craft beer on. But rum is our baby – we’ve got lots of varieties.”
Lee, aged 36, from Halmerend, added: “Coming out of the military we wanted to do something. We’d like to get the veterans down here.
“My cousin has bars and this is just something different.
“It was important that we intertwined it with the military. In my head, I’m still in Afghanistan.
“When veterans come out they’re just neglected – they aren’t helped. They don’t get anything.
“One of the main reasons we opened this was to help.”