The Red Lion pub in Upper Basildon, Berkshire, has been saved with the help of locals, who will be paid back in pints. The pub had stood derelict for nearly three years after closing, leaving the village without its only hub for meetings. The building had also become an eyesore.
Community effort to buy the pub
Locals launched a bid to buy the pub from owners the Stonegate Pub Company, but faced the challenge of raising the necessary funds. John Hunter and Annabel Cochrane, who run another pub also called the Red Lion in nearby Blewbury, heard about the community push and decided to get involved. The couple needed to raise £450,000 from residents to help secure the £760,000 purchase, with the difference coming from them.
They decided to do so through a membership benefit scheme, in which people paid either £3,000, £6,000 or £9,000 each. The effort was such a success that they were able to buy the Red Lion late last month, although renovation work means the pub is not expected to reopen until next April.
Membership rewards and reopening
When it reopens, those who took out either bronze, silver or gold membership will be entitled to loyalty points to the value of either £25, £50 or £75 per month, which they can exchange for drinks, food or accommodation.
The idea comes as communities across the country are battling to save beloved pubs that have either closed or are threatened. The Mirror's Your Pub Needs You campaign has been championing the plight of the nation's watering holes, highlighting their importance to communities and calling for ways to help those who want to take over at-risk pubs.
Local support and vision
Mr Hunter, 68, who used to work as a property developer in London, and Ms Cochrane, 55, were new to running pubs when they bought the Red Lion in Blewbury a few years ago. However, they were keen to use their knowledge to help save the pub in Upper Basildon.
“It was the last chance saloon,” says Mr Hunter, as he recalls the state of the pub. “It was clear that the community was not happy to have a village without a pub. It has no shops, no post office. But after being closed for three years, it was derelict,” he adds, describing it as like the Mary Celeste: “the beer was still in the lines, there were pint glasses and a flat cap on the bar.”
Local support has extended as far as people helping to spruce up the outside of the pub. Community investor Richard Beake helped clear away three years' worth of overgrown grass, hedges and growth in the beer garden. He told the BBC that buying the pub was a “milestone” in the village regaining “a vibrant pub”. He also said he was looking forward to drinking pints in the pub as a “return on investment”.
Mr Hunter described the nation's pubs as “the cornerstone of our culture in this country, of our heritage.” He said the membership scheme was an idea that could be used by other communities: “It's a method that could work in a village pub that is the last one. I don't think it would where there is another pub within walking distance.”
