Tune into Radio Devon tomorrow morning - early!

Save The Red Lion Campaign will be interviewed live on Radio Devon tomorrow morning - Monday  22 July - at just after 7.00am. Tune in to listen as the discussion will be about why pubs are closing.

A Community Action 1st in East Devon!

Save The Red Lion Campaign has now taken the next & crucuial step of asking East Devon District Council to list the Red Lion as an "Asset of Community Value". This means that if, as we fully expect the District Council to do, it lists the pub as an "Asset of Community Value" then the owner, Punch Taverns, cannot sell the pub at this stage.

By obtaining the listing, which we anticipate should be concluded by early/mid September, then in addition to Punch Taverns not being able to immediately sell the Red Lion, the Campaign can start to properly evaluate whether it wants to start the process of making a bid for the pub.

Campaign Chair Fred Burnett delivers the request for the District Council to list the Red Lion

This is a significant moment for the Campaign as it demonstrates that it is absolutely serious about retaining the pub for the community & that there is a clear belief amongst Campaigners that the Red Lion can be turned into a viable & successful business. This request for the Red Lion to be listed as an "Asset of Community Value" is the first to be made to East Devon District Council for a pub, & the first to be made to the District Council by a local campaign group! Across the UK there are only about 70 pubs that have been listed by Councils as an "Asset of Community Value".

A copy of the Campaign's press release that was issued today announcing this news is at http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/19.7.13SaveTheRedLionPressRelease.doc
In addition to asking the District Council to list the Red Lion, the Campaign is also now in the process of applying to the Government's Department for Communities and Local Government for a significant grant to allow it to undertake "pre-feasibility" work associated with preparing to make a bid for the pub. This grant will allow the campaign to be supported by professional advisers in evaluating the likely cost of purchasing & upgarding the pub; in starting work on an outline business plan & getting the pub independently valued & possibly surveyed.

Save The Red Lion Campaign expects that by early September it should know if the pub has been listed as  an "Asset of Community Value" & whether it has been awarded the grant which will enable it to take the move to purchase the pub for the community to the next stage. So the next 6/8 weeks will be a bit nailbitting for the Campaign!

The Campaign has not forgotten that the local community will want to fully understand how the next stage will work & to have their say in what the pub should provide, beyond the traditional pub fare, as a community asset. So in early/mid September the Campaign is planning to hold a public meeting in the village to update & engage with the local community.

This is really the start of what will be an exciting, time consuming & determined period for the Campaign as it starts to turn good intentions, that were originally voiced in mid May at the original public meeting that created the Campaign, into actions.

Come with us on this journey! Please support the Campaign as it progresses.

Further Sidmouth Herald coverage of Campaign

Thanks to the Sidmouth Herald for a great article in today's edition at page 7 in which it reports Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP's decision to become Patron of Save The Red Lion Campaign & his presence in the pub last Friday evening as captured by the photograph below.

You can view the article at -http://sites.google.com/site/thepubinthevillage/19.7.13SidmouthHeraldArticle.pdf.

Hugo Swire toasting the Red Lion & Campaign with Campaign Chair & Secretary & landlord Neil Anthony

Keep up to date with the Campaign!

Since we started this blog to support Save The Red Lion Campaign three months ago we have now had over 3,000 visits!

In the same time period we have now amassed 160 Twitter followers, but would obviously welcome more! http://twitter.com/SaveTheRedLion

We also now have 115 Facebook friends, but we can always do with more!  http://facebook.com/thepubin.thevillage?ref=tn_tnmn

Thank you for your support!

 Hugo Swire MP in the Red Lion with Campaign supporters

Publican's Morning Advertiser reports on Hugo's announcement!

The press coverage of Hugo Swire MP drinking in the Red Lion last Friday evening whilst announcing that he had agreed to be a Campaign Patron has started! A nice piece in a pub trade magazine Publican's Morning Advertiser reports -
http://www.morningadvertiser.co.uk/General-News/Hugo-Swire-MP-joins-campaign-to-save-Red-Lion-pub-in-Sidbury.

We will keep you in touch with the press coverage as it happens. In the meantime here's another photograph from the evening -


Hugo Swire MP getting ready to pull a pint in the Red Lion watched by landlord Neil Anthony



Western Morning News gives pointers for pub success

Saturday's edition of the Western Morning News carried an article, which is the first in a series that the paper is running over forthcoming Saturday editions, about what makes a pub attractive to its local community. The articles are being written in conjunction with local Otter Brewery.

This week's article focused on the George Inn at Brompton Regis and  looked at a couple who had taken over the pub earlier this year. The clear thrust of the message being conveyed was that if you want your pub to be at the heart of the community, you need to engage with it and hear what local people are saying. The article is worth a read -
http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Ask-don-t-tell-s-secret-making-pub-success/story-19516166-detail/story.html.

As Save The Red Lion Campaign progresses one of the things that it will have to do is listen to & speak with the local community if we want to keep the Red Lion at the heart of the village. This approach is one that the Campaign's Steering Committee has firmly in its sights!

Hugo Swire MP becomes Save The Red Lion Campaign Patron!



Hugo Swire MP toasts the Red Lion & the Campaign



Save The Red Lion Campaign is pleased to announce that our local MP Hugo Swire has agreed to become the Patron of the Campaign which is dedicated to retaining the Red Lion pub in Sidbury, east Devon.

It is equally pleasing that Hugo Swire, despite being a Minister in the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, found the time during the early evening of Friday 12 July to come along to the Red Lion to make the announcement that he had agreed to be a Patron of the Campaign.

In front of a packed crowd in the pub, Hugo Swire said that he would be very concerned for the village if the Red Lion was not to continue as a pub as he recognised that a pub should be at the heart of a thriving village like Sidbury. Hugo Swire wished the Campaign all the success in seeking to retain the Red Lion which its owners Punch Taverns placed up for sale 3 months ago.

Hugo Swire committed to fully supporting the Campaign and to working with it to maximise the support that the Department for Communities and Local Government, the government department responsible for ensuring that local community assets are retained, could make available to ensure that the Red Lion remained as a local pub.

Hugo Swire recalled his links to the Red Lion, a pub that he used to often frequent, from the time in the recent past when he lived in the village for many years. He also expressed his fondness for the Red Lion, as well as for the village of Sidbury.

Save The Red Lion Campaign Chair Fred Burnett said “It was terrific that our local MP Hugo Swire found the time to come along to the Red Lion to meet so many Campaign supporters and to show public support for the pub. We are immensely pleased that Hugo has so quickly agreed to become a Patron to the Campaign to retain the Red Lion”.

Fred Burnett went on to say “Having such a high profile and well connected MP such as Hugo Swire as a Patron of the Campaign is important as it reinforces the importance that the village attaches to retaining the Red Lion as a pub for the local community. All of us involved in the Campaign look forward to working with Hugo in our fight to retain the Red Lion”.

Save The Red Lion Campaign continues to fight to retain the Red Lion as the pub at the heart of the village and expects to be able to build upon this important step in the campaign.