Community venture sees pub reopen
Ahigh-street pub has reopened after nearly a decade after being bought by the locals. The once-popular Sportsman pub in the coastal town of Nefyn shut back in 2009. But now it is open for business again thanks to a community share venture that raised more than £85,000 to purchase the freehold.
With the help of the Wales Co-operative Centre’s Community Shares Wales initiative, a local group in the seaside town launched a share offer back in May to enable them to raise 50% of the necessary funds to buy The Sportsman.
Asking for a minimum purchase of 50 shares costing £1 each, they attracted in excess of 500 investors.
With Wales losing on average one pub a week, shareholders of the new community-owned pub are calling on other communities to come together to save local assets.
Elin Angharad Davies, newly appointed director and secretary of The Sportsman, said: “This is a significant moment in the history of Nefyn... the day the town got its local institution back.
“When we first set out on this journey as a small group of volunteers, we never believed in our wildest dreams that we would be able to raise over £80,000 in just over eight weeks.
“We are completely overwhelmed by the response of our community to save their local pub, which used to be the central meeting place for sports clubs and visitors to the Llyn Peninsula.
“The training and support we’ve received from the Wales Co-operative Centre through this process has been second to none. From establishing us as a community benefit society, so we can include as wide an ownership as possible, to guiding us through the legals of a community share offer, they’ve been a reliable advisor and mentor in times of uncertainty.”
She added: “There is still a lot of work for us to make this pub the heartbeat of the community once again, but we have a bright future and a future which is now owned and run by the people.”
Carly McCreesh, manager of the Wales Co-operative Centre’s Community Shares Wales project, said: “The local pub is the heart and soul of many a community across the country, but sadly Wales is currently losing one pub per week. A community share scheme can help empower local people to save the places that matter to them or help owners leave their legacy in safe hands.
“There are over 50 successful community-owned pubs across the UK and we are currently running live share offers with a number of groups in Wales to help increase that number, including Cross Foxes Inn in Garndolbenmaen and Menter y Plu in Llanystumdwy.
“By investing in the services and facilities that matter to them and by having a say in the way they are run, communities gain a sense of ownership and grow stronger as they work together to change their future.”
The Community Shares Wales project, funded by the Big Lottery Fund, is designed to help communities run share offers to save or improve their local assets. Support can be offered at any stage throughout the process, from inception and preparation to completion and aftercare.