Chef puts Gartmore in the telly spotlight
Top chef Tom Kerridge last week congratulated Gartmore volunteers in person for their vital role in supporting the community during lockdown.
The Michelin-starred chef was visting Gartmore – the only village in Scotland which owns both its shop and pub – to film a new TV series for BBC2.
Both of the Gartmore community enterprises stayed open during lockdown. Shop volunteers served customers six days a week so no-one needed to leave the village for essential supplies, and the pub provided carryout meals or made home deliveries to those shielding.
Tom, who runs a number of acclaimed pubs and restaurants, has bought shares in the Gartmore venture, and has also been advising its board, The Black Bull Hub Gartmore.
He said: “I have been blown away by what this community has achieved. I am passionate about pubs being the heart of the community.
“Gartmore has shown many villages – where their pub will be under threat after the pandemic – a new way forward.”
The Gartmore volunteers, working in safe zones, had also been decorating the Black Bull in preparation for reopening as lockdown eased.
Last year villagers, who had been running the community-owned shop for 21 years, got the opportunity to buy the pub when owners Andy and Liz Malcolm decided to sell to concentrate on other businesses.
Following a public meeting and community consultation, the village has so far raised £35,000 and expects to gather the remaining £20,000 needed.
This, together with a £200,000 Scottish Land Fund grant, is funding the project.
Stirling MSP Bruce Crawford, who attended the Black Bull reopening, said: “This village has been an inspiration. Both with its community-owned shop and now pub, it has shown how a community can pull together.”
Black Bull board member and village businessman Peter Sunderland, added: “We are incredibly lucky. We live in a community that cares and pulls together to make things work. I have been amazed at the number who have volunteered to help both in the shop and at the Bull to enable both to stay open right through the pandemic.”