Welcome to The George Community Pub
Latest News…..
Councillors tour of the George
A second hard hat tour took place on Saturday 18th November and although the weather was dull and dreary it was very successful with 15 people attending from East Suffolk Council, Wickham Market Parish Council, and members of the local community.
The visit provided an opportunity to hear from heritage building specialist Ben Watlin, from Seamans Builders about the restoration process, how it is progressing, along with some of the many challenges on the way.
The George Community Engagement Co-ordinator, Christine Abraham and members of the Management Committee were in attendance to talk about the longer-term vision for the Pub and the activity space once the restoration is complete.
To view more pictures, click here
Earlier News
The second issue of our newsletter is now available
Read all the latest news from The George Community Pub team. Items include an update on the building work, a profile of the new Community Engagement Coordinator, and The George’s role when England was a Republic.
The next newsletter will be published in January 2024
Click here to view the Newsletter
The George Pub Games Evening and Quiz night
Held in the Village Hall on Friday 29th September, over 70 people enjoyed an evening of competitive games and quizzing. Ten different pub games provided a highly entertaining evening from darts to bar skittles and shove halfpenny the hall was a buzz of activity which finally ended in a testing quiz.
Tickets included a free hotdog and the paid for bar was kept busy the whole evening. The first monthly 200 Club draw took place in the half time break and winners were announced. On leaving the event many people asked when the next evening would be organized.
Thanks to all those who attended and our volunteer helpers on the night; your generosity has added over £700 to our ‘Gilding the Building’ fund which will go towards putting back the less essential things that had to be taken out of our budget to meet our overall target.
We hope you all had a good time and please keep a look out for our next Games and Quiz evening.
Until then please come and see us at Wickham’s Christmas Market on the 02 December where we will have a stall and be able to update you with building progress. Why not put your name on the list for a hard hat tour?
October Draw Results
Our 200 Club draw took place during a committee meeting held at the Resource Centre on 30th October 2023. The winning ticket holders are:
- 1st PRIZE – IAN THORNTON ,
- 2nd PRIZE – SIMON HARRINGTON,
- 3rd PRIZE – ROBERT CUTTS
50% of all proceeds go towards our Gilding the Building Fund
If you wish to support our Gilding the Building campaign, there are two ways you can help:
You can join our 200 Club. Membership details can be found here
Or you can also be part of this exciting project by buying shares, ask for full details via email to secretary@thegeorgecommunitypub.co.uk
September Draw Results
Our inaugural 200 Club Prize Draw took place at our successful Pub Games and Quiz Night on 29th September. The winning ticket holders are:
- 1st PRIZE – Michael Golding,
- 2nd PRIZE – Dick Jenkinson,
- 3rd PRIZE – Ray Lewis
All proceeds will go towards our ‘Gilding the Building’ campaign, which includes the fitting out and resurfacing of the pub garden.
If you would like to join our 200 Club, membership details can be found here
The first issue of our newsletter is now available
Read all the latest news from The George Community Pub team. Learn about the progress being made during this period of discovery as we peel back the history of the last remaining pub in the village. Find out about our ‘behind the scenes’ hard hat tours which give an insight to the methods used in the restoration of this 500 hundred year old Grade II listed building.
The Newsletters will be published regularly as the project progresses.
Click here to view the Newsletter
Community Engagement Coordinator appointed
The employment of a Community Engagement Coordinator is an important step in making the George More Than a Pub and we are pleased to announce the appointment of Christine Abraham to the role from 1st October. For More information Click here.
Work on the George restoration is now well underway – let’s celebrate
Join us for a fun evening of traditional pub games, quiz , and of course a well stocked bar.
Friday 29th September at 7pm in the Village Hall.
News Headlines – July 14th
The George Community Pub launches its
You are all invited to join the George Community Pub 200 Club and help our ‘Gilding the Building’ costs!
Whilst the full restoration costs of the building have been secured, we have had to make cost savings in other areas to meet overall targets. Profit from the 200 club will go towards the cost of bringing back some of the original specification such as real wooden floors and resurfacing of the beer garden. We call it ‘Gilding the Building’.
By contributing £5 per month (or more) you will have the chance to win cash prizes and… potentially raise £6000 for the George every year!
For full details of how it works and how to apply click here.
News Headlines – July 5th
We’ve done it!
The National Lottery Heritage Fund have been in touch to say that we have been successful in winning our request for additional funding. This together with the Community Ownership Fund Award, other grant providers, shareholders and your unwavering generosity and support means that all funding for the building is now complete and our collective dream of saving the George will happen.
The George will be saved to serve many generations to come. A welcoming place to meet and eat with friends and family, it will be the ‘peoples pub’ and the heartbeat of the village. We thank everyone that have helped with their belief and investment including National Lottery players everywhere.
Restoration will start mid-July ‘23 with a finishing date for a fully fitted and open pub scheduled for autumn ‘24.
To read our full press release please click here.
April 26th update – the fight to save the pub continues
Anyone listening to Radio Suffolk this morning would have heard about Ipswich Town’s fantastic win at Barnsley, Ed Sheeran’s court case in New York and in the same breath Wickham Market’s fight to save their historic Pub.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund are considering the rising costs of restoration alongside other heritage projects nationwide. The more we close the gap by buying shares the better the chances of a successful outcome.
We don’t have long, so buy shares now for your part in the pub’s history!
For more details contact info.wmgeorge@gmail.co
April update – more funding secured but there’s still a gap
Two weeks ago we explained that, having provisionally secured full funding of the project against the Cost Plan prepared by our professional team, the Main Builder tender returns had subsequently come in much higher than forecast. Therefore a new funding gap had opened which needed to be closed before we could let the contract for the restoration
We quickly moved to close the gap by discussing cost reductions with the Main Building Contractor and by also increasing our funding.
We asked for a further share investment to help us reach our target of £225,000 so that we could secure the Community Share Booster investment of £50,000. We are delighted to announce that the share target was reached and the Booster investment secured. A massive Thank You to those individuals who stepped forward to help us achieve this.
The share investment total is now £275,000 and we have a total of 441 shareholders. We have now closed the Share Offer. The money continues to be held in a designated account awaiting confirmation that the Saving The George project can proceed.
In the last two weeks we have undertaken a major cost reassessment with our chosen main building contractor (Seamans Building) and Quantity Surveyors (Castons). This has lead to significant cost savings in the re-building work without compromising our aims and vision for The George.
However, despite our efforts with both fundraising and cost savings, there still remains a funding gap. This has been discussed with The National Lottery Heritage Fund and we were invited to apply to them for a grant increase to close this gap.
We have submitted a detailed application but understand that because of higher building costs everywhere there are many projects that are now having to do this and that our application will be considered alongside all others.
Guided by estimated costs from our professional team and before the building tender returns came in so high, we had planned that next week we would sign the Main Building Contract to begin the restoration process. Now we need to wait until our additional Heritage Fund application is considered by their assessment panel which is due to meet in June.
This is all very frustrating and as soon as we know the outcome we will let you know.
To see news items from previous years, click here
If you are not already a member and want to subscribe to our ‘Friends of the George’ email group to receive updates on progress, details of events, news, etc, then please click on the icon to be added to the friends list.