Levelling up cash saves pubs

The Oxford Arms, in Kington, is to benefit from £300,000 of Government funding which will see it taken over by the local community and transformed into an inclusive pub. 

Renovations will see the venue create a community space which can be used for a range of activities and events whilst creating new employment and training opportunities for local people.

The investment will also allow the pub to work with local businesses in the area to reduce food waste and encourage local initiatives such as a community car share scheme.

The funding is being provided as part of the Government plan to “level-up” opportunity and prosperity across the UK.  

Minister for Levelling Up, the Union and Constitution, Neil O’Brien MP said: “Empowering local people to take ownership of much-loved assets is central to levelling up communities across Herefordshire and the wider region. 

“The Oxford Arms Pub is supporting the growth of the community through job creation and training for local people.

“Through projects like this, we are helping places across the country become more desirable areas to live.”

The £2.2m fund is providing support for a number of pub initiatives including helping a community project in the Midlands to purchase the Bell Inn pub, a community in Yorkshire to take ownership of the Countryman’s Inn pub, and a further £250,000 investment to see one of London’s oldest pubs, the Old Red Lion in Islington to relaunch as a theatre pub venue.