Your local: heart of a community and a role to be cherished
NOTHING is more significant, both to our lives and to the national economy, than our health and happiness, writes Neville Grundy.
The more friends you have, the happier and healthier you are.
While 40% of people in the UK normally socialise with friends at home, a third prefer to do so in pubs.
Pubs, small community pubs in particular, provide a safe environment in which to meet old and new friends face-to-face.
The pub is an environment where we can get to know a greater diversity of people from all walks of life than we might otherwise.
Almost a quarter of the UK population declared that they had a ‘local’ that they patronised regularly; their “local” was usually close to where they lived or worked. Patrons of “locals” and small community pubs have more close friends on whom they can depend for support, are more satisfied with their lives and feel more embedded in their local communities than those who do not have a “local”.
Even in the internet age, friendships are created and maintained mainly by personal interaction.
Small community pubs are more likely to be beer-based rather than wine/spirit-based, and their customers tend to drink less alcohol than those in large city centre pubs.
There is evidence that modest alcohol consumption improves both cognitive ability and some (but not all) aspects of health.
By allowing us to meet face-toface, modest alcohol consumption in pubs also enables us to build friendships and create a sense of community, and there is considerable evidence that social network size and quality has dramatic effects on health, well-being and happiness.
Our individual lives and our communities could be enhanced if:
Licensees and pub owners work closely with their community to develop a local community atmosphere.
Town planners and developers ensure that communities have local pubs readily available.
Government policies on beer tax and business rate relief consider the positive impacts which community pubs have on health and wellbeing.
People can be persuaded to talk to each other in person in the pub rather than on social media.
The above is summarised from Friends On Tap – The Role Of Pubs At The Heart Of The Community, a report prepared for Camra by Prof Robin Dunbar, of the Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford.
Southport & West Lancs Camra website: www.southport.camra. org.uk.