Admiral licensees raise more than £1m for charity
Licensees from across the firm’s 1,450 leased and tenanted community sites, organised a variety of fundraising initiatives from charity skydives to collecting clothes from customers to donate to a local women’s shelter.
Admiral Taverns chief executive Chris Jowsey said: “I would like to extend a huge thank you to every single publican across the UK for their fantastic fundraising efforts.
“These donations will go a long way to supporting those in need during a difficult time.
“Local communities are so important to us, constantly supporting our pubs, so it’s essential that we find ways to give back to them.”
Life-changing results
The pubco added its 190 strong community wet-led operator division, Proper Pubs, were “critical” in the fundraising efforts, having hosted Christmas selection box appeals, along with Easter Egg collections which this year saw more than 12,000 Easter Eggs donated to local communities in need.
Warren Kelly at the Brewery Arms in Saltney, Chester recently raised £2,600 for a local child who was diagnosed with terminal cancer, to send him and his family on holiday through hosting an array of interactive games and activities.
Emma Shepherd at the Blue Ball in Sheffield raised almost £20,000 for local charities in the past 18 months by hosting auctions and quiz nights.
In addition, every Saturday, the Blue Ball offers a free space for local businesses who don’t have a physical presence.
Proper Pubs has also encouraged its operators to host fundraising events to have lifesaving defibrillators installed outside its pubs. Most recently the group installed its 130th across its estate, with 9 already achieving life-changing results.
Dedicated pubs
Admiral added pubs will “once again play a critical role in communities” in the lead up to Christmas, with several of its sites offering free meals to lonely and vulnerable people as well as hosting Christmas markets to bring people together.
Carole Davis at the Clifton Arms in Blackburn, for example, will provide free fish and chips to the lonely and vulnerable this Christmas.
To celebrate the “hard work” of its operators, Admiral has also revealed it will be launching a new award for its leased and tenanted division.
Jowsey continued: “To celebrate this incredible hard work, we are also delighted to be launching our Quarterly Community Hero Awards across our leased and tenanted division after the success of these awards in our Proper Pubs division.
“This ensures we are recognising the dedicated pubs in each region that have gone that extra mile.”
