Proud of Pubs Week is up and running
The Proud of Pubs message is resounding around the pub trade as The Publican's week of positive action for pubs gets fully underway.
A Proud of Pubs Week-themed farmers' market opened the campaign at Ye Olde Sun Inn in Colton near Tadcaster, while in London licensee Gerry O'Brien of the multi-award winning Churchill Arms in Kensington, has kitted out all his team in Proud of Pubs t-shirts, and is selling Proud of Pubs Best Bitter (see the video interview with Gerry below).
Gerry, who is raising money for the Wooden Spoon children's charity over the course of the week, said: "We're talking to all our customers about it and the beer is going down really well. Proud of Pubs Week is a real talking point here!"
In Bedfordshire, Declan Duggan of the White Swan in Dunstable is following the day-by-day suggested activites of the week and is launching his own Twitter acount today.
Many MPs are meeting licensees in their pubs later this week to mark the week, while more are attending a launch event in the House of Commons. Former Tory leader Michael Howard was among the MPs who got his visit in early with a trip to the Guildhall in Folkestone, Kent on Friday.
Lib Dem licensing spokesman Don Foster MP, who is visiting the Green Park Tavern in Bath on Friday, said he was delighted to be able to support Proud of Pubs Week
"The local pub is an important part of any local community, and it is vital that we do all we can to promote and protect them. That is why I have voted against rises in beer duty in parliament, a tax which unfairly hits the local pub, while doing nothing to combat binge drinking," he said.
"I would urge everyone to try and pop into their local pub during this week."
