Pubs are so often at the heart of our communities and rural heritage, playing a key part in keeping our villages and towns vibrant.

That’s why I was delighted to support the Gressenhall Community Enterprise (GCE)’s campaign to save The Swan Pub in their village – which will now return to its traditional name of The White Swan.

Having launched a community share scheme in the summer, the GCE exceeded all expectations and raised an outstanding £260,000 in just six weeks! 420 different investors contributed! On top of that, they have been awarded £100,000 by the ‘More than a Pub’ scheme run by the Plunkett Foundation!

The pub, which dates back to 1790, will now be refurbished and transformed into a vibrant hub to meet, eat and drink – showcasing what can be achieved when a community comes together with a shared aim and a passion for delivering it.

Serving locally sourced, reasonably price food and beverages, the pub will be utilising intelligent design and technologies to create a highly energy efficient building – as the GCE aspire to a net-zero operating model. It will also host a number of informal and organised community events as part of the GCE’s drive to enhance community cohesion and reduce loneliness.

To stay up to date with all of the exciting progress, please do visit the campaign’s Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and website

The GCE’s most recent Blog posts can be found here and here as well.

Well done to the GCE and all those who have supported them! I very much look forward to enjoying a meal and a pint there in the (Covid permitting!) not too distant future.

(Here are some photos from the outstanding fundraising campaign…)