Essex community recognised at pub saving awards
11th January 2025
The Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society, which saved the Chequers Inn in Roxwell, Essex, has been announced the runner-up in the Pub Saving Award 2024 competition.
The Pub Saving Award, hosted by The Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), recognises people that have come together to save a pub that would have otherwise been demolished or converted to another use.
It aims to secure publicity for pub-saving campaigns to encourage others to save their local.
The Chequers Inn in Roxwell, Essex, had been closed since January 2020. With the pub under threat of being converted to housing, the Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society (RCCBS) was formed, with the aim of raising the funds to buy and refurbish the Chequers Inn, re-establishing it as a homely, traditional country pub.
The two-year project, starting in 2022, generated great enthusiasm and commitment from the village of Roxwell and the surrounding area, with public meetings regularly attracting over 150 people.
The campaign even drew supporters from as far as Australia and the USA.
‘Sense of community that only a pub can provide’
In 2024, the parish of 1,100 people managed to raise a total of £675k from shareholders and grant funding to buy and renovate the Chequers Inn, with ownership being transferred to the community in April.
This was made possible through the £400k share issue in March 2024, the successful community ownership application, and an array of local funding activities, including a classic car cruise and beer festivals.
The project recruited a small army of volunteers to help with the renovation of the pub, reinstatement of the garden, and the entire refurbishment of the tenant’s two-bedroom accommodation.
Tough time for pubs
Pub Saving Award coordinator Paul Ainsworth said: “When a pub closes, it is incredibly hard to open the doors again, with many losing the battle to conversion or demolition.
“That is why these awards are so important; the hard work and dedication shown by these campaigns to save local pubs deserve recognition.
“They are all inspirational stories, that will hopefully encourage more pub-saving campaigns so future generations can enjoy the wonderful sense of community that only a pub can provide.
“2024 marked the one-year anniversary of the wanton destruction of the Crooked House pub in Himley, serving as a grim reminder that pubs in the wrong hands can sadly disappear. January is always a tough time for pubs, so please make sure to support your local and seek out beautiful heritage pubs across the UK.”
The winner of the Pub Saving Award was the Old Horn Community Pub Society that saved the Old Horn Inn in Spennithorne, North Yorkshire.
The Old Horn Inn, a pub over 200 years old, closed suddenly in 2022 with a planning application submitted to convert it into housing. Villagers banded together to protect the pub from this fate and succeeded in reopening the pub under community ownership on 21 May 2024.
The pubs will be presented with the award at forthcoming events organised by the respective local CAMRA branches in early 2025.
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