Phew! It’s been a hectic few days since we secured ownership of the pub. First of all, thank you to EVERYONE for your incredible enthusiasm and offers of support. We’ve been overwhelmed by the wave of excitement and positivity that’s greeted the news. There’s been a wonderful response to our initial call for volunteers at the Septembeerfest, and in the first three days of work alone, over 60 hours of practical volunteer effort were logged at the pub by the magnificent cleaning and gardening teams.
Can you help?
Join our fantastic volunteer team! We’re currently looking for the following:
- Fire risk assessor
- Asbestos assessor
- Volunteer bar staff
- Cellar cooling system expertise
- Pub/space planner
- Potential tenants
- Grant writers/fundraisers
- Volunteers who have food hygiene training
- Baristas
Whatever your skills, if you’d like to volunteer please contact rennie@backthewhitehorse.com. Your donations of time, experience, practical and professional skills will be invaluable.
Temporary Pop-up Pub/Cafe
Although the pub won’t be reopening before next year, the great news is that you’ll be able to enjoy a drink in the building before then. We’re delighted to report that Claire Renshaw and a wonderful team of volunteers will be operating a temporary pop-up pub/café on the premises at weekends to raise money for refurbishments. There’s still plenty of preparation to complete and it’s going to be VERY tight, but we’re aiming to open the doors on the evening of Friday 29th September, and operate during the weekends up until Christmas.
The proposed opening times of Claire’s pop-up pub/café are:
Friday: 11:00 to 23:00 (NOTE: evening only on 29 September)
Saturday: 9:00 to 23:00
Sunday: 10:00 to 15:00
Full reopening in 2024
Looking ahead, there’s an extensive and growing list of repairs, refurbishments, renovations and regulatory hurdles to tackle in order to bring the premises up to scratch for operation, plus consultation and planning on how the pub can best serve the community. At present we’re aiming to fully reopen the pub in Spring/Summer 2024.
In brief:
- Join us at a public meeting at the Village Hall on Sunday 15 October 6.30-8pm where we’ll bring you up to date with progress and discuss options for the realising the pub’s potential.
- Our share offer and donations page will also be reopening and we’ll be inviting everyone to invest or contribute as they can share in the vision for the pub.
- Follow the big clean up on Instagram at stonesfieldwhitehorse
Once again, a huge thank you for all your local, national and international support. I’m sure that you will have many further questions, so please don’t hesitate to email us at info@backthewhitehorse.com and we’ll do our best to answer as many as we can.
Steve Callaghan
Chair of the committee
Stonesfield Community Pub Ltd