The George presses on

We hope that all our friends and supporters are keeping well and safe.

Although the current circumstances have meant that we have not been able to hold planned events for you to enjoy and to allow us to keep you up-to-date with progress (but see below), we have not been idle and are still on programme with our National Lottery Heritage Fund-funded Project Development Stage.

At the end of March, we received the good news that our application to the Architectural Heritage Fund for nearly £8,000 of match-funding under their Transforming Heritage programme had been successful. With grants from our County and District Councillors – currently being held up by the COVID situation – and our own contribution this provides all the partnership funding included in our Development Phase income plan. Additionally, in March we received a further contribution from East Suffolk Council to cover unforeseen, but necessary, additional scaffolding safety inspections advised by our Health and Safety consultants.

Architectural Heritage Fund Chief Executive, Matthew Mckeague, commented: “The Architectural Heritage Fund is delighted to support The George Community Pub Ltd in seeking to save this important heritage building, which is significantly at risk. After helping at an early stage to explore how The George could be brought into community ownership, we have now followed this up with a further grant to help develop the plans needed to secure its future, complementing the project’s development grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  This project has strong potential to benefit the local economy and community, which will be more important than ever as we recover from the Coronavirus pandemic.”

Otherwise, with our Project Managers Greenwood in place (as reported previously) we have been tendering, short-listing and interviewing for other key consultants, our Architects, and Cost and Heritage Consultants. Appointments will be made over the next few weeks and we will keep you posted on our team.

Not only have we made extensive use of Zoom video conferencing in the recruitment process, but also, on the 30th March, held our first on-line Committee Meeting. We now have a Zoom ‘Pro’ licence which allows us to have longer duration gatherings. Regarding this, community pubs across the country are obviously having a hard time at present, but many are finding ingenious on-line ways to continue to bring people together. We are currently looking at possible events, but would love to hear any suggestions. Please drop us an email with any suggestions you have.