The initiative was first launched in April 2013 as a ‘fund of last resort’, to help pub licensees provide essential services within their local communities.
It was initiated by the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) with a donation of £170,000, with further donations from Diageo, Greene King, Marston’s and Norfolk County Council.
DCLG has now confirmed that it will continue its support for the initiative with another £100,000 contribution.
The fund has so far supported more than 40 projects across the country, generating new services such as shops, post offices and libraries for over 53,000 local people, and there are more than 30 new schemes in the pipeline.
'Delighted'
John Longden, chief executive of Pub is The Hub, said: “This is most encouraging news for licensees wishing to help services within their community and also for our voluntary advisors who provide any help and support they can.
“We see good licensees can, and do, work with the public, private and voluntary sector to improve the local economy and for every £1 we invest, we are able to leverage at least another £1 from private and public funding.
“Now, with over thirty new schemes in the pipeline we are delighted to receive this much-needed cash injection to maintain the momentum we have gathered in the first two years.”
'Valuable place'
Community Pubs Minister Kris Hopkins said: “Pubs are at the heart of so many of the Britain’s villages and towns which is why we are continuing to fund Pub is The Hub so it can carry on helping rural pubs get involved with their local community.
“Right across the country pubs provide not just hundreds of thousands of jobs but a valuable place for millions of people to get together. This government has played its part doing everything we can to support pubs, including three consecutive beer duty cuts, abolishing the unpopular beer and alcohol escalators, cutting business taxes for pubs and arming people with the power to list their local as an asset of community value.”