- providing regeneration through access to public services and facilities to those who are socially excluded
- promoting employment, education and training in areas of high social need
- encouraging volunteering, citizenship and community development as a hub for community groups
More than a Pub: The Community Pub Business Support Programme
The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has announced a new programme which allows assistance for communities to take over control of local pubs, with an allocation of £3.6 million over two years.
More than a Pub: The Community Pub Business Support Programme is a £3.62 million, 2-year programme that will see a comprehensive package of business development support, advice, and loan and grant funding being delivered to community groups in England to help them establish community-owned pubs that can clearly demonstrate how they will bring significant social, economic and environmental benefits to their communities.
Jointly funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government and Power to Change, the programme will be led by Plunkett Foundation and delivered in collaboration.
The programme aims to support 80 community-owned pubs to open over 2 years and will offer a flexible package of support including access to an advice line, events, workshops, peer-to-peer study visits, and business development advice. It will also offer flexible bursary awards to fund very early stage activity, such as community consultation work, and a grant and loan package.
Forty communities have already successfully taken ownership of their local pub under community ownership, and over 1,200 have been listed as ‘assets of community value’ under community rights, highlighting the important role that pubs play in local communities.
The programme seeks to support pubs such as these, where they advance a charitable purpose to benefit their communities by, for example: