Travellers Rest, Skeeby

The ‘pub night’ Saturday 2^nd July 2011.

Thanks to you all, those of you who attended and supported and to those of you who couldn’t attend but supported us anyway. The evening was a great success. It was very busy and we estimated that over 100 people came through the doors at one time or another. Paul was rushed off his feet with the food orders, Adrian was sweating buckets in the kitchen and quenched his thirst with a few pints of Strongarm and Chris was kept busy with a never-ending queue at the bar. Jorge did a great deal of networking and rallying support for the pub and his feedback was positive. A few games of dominoes and darts, some good food and drink and a great evening had by all. We were able to raise the awareness of the Pub campaign and we certainly showed what a good night you can have in the pub.

We counted just over £575 thrown into the buckets and with costs of food and soft drinks etc estimated at less than £200, we have raised nearly £400 for the campaign fighting fund.

As you know the evening was not about raising money it was more about finding out what is the appetite for a pub in the village and also how future pub nights would be received and it all went down very well. We even ran out of lager and sent Paul to the shop for more cans!

Thanks again to all who attended, helped and provided supplies and to the Village hall for hosting our event.

Now we have experienced what a good social evening you can have in the pub,

Let's go get our pub back.

We are meeting William Hague up at the George and Dragon on 22nd July to rally some political support and remain confident we can realise our community ownership of the pub.

Skeeby is a small village between Richmond and Scotch Corner. Like many North Yorkshire villages, Skeeby once had a thriving local community with a village shop, post office, pub, church, chapel and village hall. Unfortunately, that sense of community is being undermined by the gradual loss of our village facilities

The Skeeby Community Pub Society Ltd was established by the village community and in the summer of 2010 registered as an Industrial and Provident Society for Community Benefit. The Society was formed in response to the purchase of the property from Newcastle breweries by a property developer who wants to turn it into a dwelling house. The Travellers Rest as a valued community asset would be a great loss to the village. The Society became a focal point for the community’s objection to the proposed change of use of The Travellers Rest and has campaigned for the reopening of our village pub. The Society has drawn significant support, including that of The Plunkett Foundation, The Cooperative Society, CAMRA, Pub is the Hub, Yorkshire Enterprise, The Rt Hon William Hague MP, and over 100 local residents.

In May 2010, the Society made an offer to purchase The Travellers Rest from the current owner (the property developer) at a sum representing a 17% profit to the applicant on his purchase price prior to any refurbishment works being undertaken. This offer was refused.

On 05 May 2011, BBC Radio 4 broadcast Peter Day’s World of Business programme titled ‘Keep it Local’ which featured community efforts to save their local pub and shop assets. The Skeeby Community Pub Society was invited to contribute to this programme and did so, explaining our intentions to save our community pub. During the course of this programme the applicant is quoted as saying that, with regard to his refurbishment of The Travellers Rest,

“we’re doing this as a family home ... it is going to be very quiet and peaceful and nobody is going to talk to me, its going to be fantastic, I couldn’t think of anything better”.

In May 2011 the Property Developer attempted to gain permission to change the Village stores into a micro pub. The place for that community pub is The Travellers Rest – a community facility that can support community gathering, community dining, village sports, and the celebration of our community, none of which can be supported by a small converted shop with an approximate maximum licensed standing capacity of 20.

On Wednesday the 18^th May and following public objections to the opening of a micro pub, in Skeeby Stores the Property Developer sent an email to The Skeeby Community Pub Society Limited, stating the following, ‘As from this Friday I have terminated the contract with the local building contractor with immediate effect until such a time that the property has an agreement for lease in place with a credible tenant’.

You can invest in the pub- Our ideal scenario is to acquire the freehold but we are wiling to negotiate reasonable lease terms. To do this we need to raise investment. You can buy a share of the pub for a minimum of £250 or maximum of £20,000. One member is one vote in the co-operative. We have over 50 investors so far. If you are interested in a supporting us and you want to save our pub we would be grateful if you could complete the Expression of Interest form which is available here and email it to Marie@travellersrestskeeby.co.uk or post it to the following address.

The Skeeby Community Pub Society Limited
c/o Skeeby Jubilee Village Hall
29/31 Richmond Road
Skeeby
Richmond
North Yorkshire
DL10 5DX

If you would like to purchase a campaign T-Shirt to show your support please contact Marie Church. They are £6.00 each in assorted sizes.

Dave Hollings from Co-operative and Mutual Solutions Limited who took the opportunity to lobby the Right Honourable William Hague for support.

The 'committee' and friends at the Swaledale food & drink festival, it was great day with enthusiastic support and plenty of encouragement to keep on fighting