A local pub in the coastal town of Nefyn, Wales, will reopen for the first time since 2009 after locals raised over £85,000 through a community share offer to purchase the freehold.
Launched in May this year, the community share offer enabled the group to raise 50% of the necessary funds to purchase the pub known as the Sportsman.
They hosted an initial public meeting in January 2018, which 80 people attended. and set up a committee to run the project.
During this process, they received support from Community Shares Wales, a project delivered by the Wales Co-operative Centre. They also worked with the Plunkett Foundation and Gwynedd Council.
Investors were asked to buy a minimum of 50 shares at £1 each. Over 500 people bought shares to bring the pub into community ownership.
The pub held an open day on 1 December, and Elin Angharad Davies, newly appointed director and secretary, said: “This open day 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 eighty thousand pounds 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.”
Ms Davies 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. Over 500 of them! You can’t put a price on that.”
Carly McCreesh, Community Shares Wales project manager at the Wales Co-operative Centre, 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 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.”
According to the Office for National Statistics, Wales is losing on average one pub a week. Nearly a quarter of pubs in the UK have closed since 2008, with big pub chains closing their small pubs to focus on large bars. The UK is now home to 39,000 pubs, down from 50,000 in 2008.
