Pubs across the country from Elgin to Southampton have entered the Charity Pub of the Year Awards, organised by PubAid and the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group (APPBG) and sponsored by Matthew Clark.
Entrants are coming from all sectors of the industry, with managed and leased pubs from operators including Ei, Punch, Wadworth, Fuller Smith & Turner, JW Lees, Hawthorn Leisure, St Austell and Joseph Holt as well as independent licensees. The competition is open until 30th September and entry is via an online form at http://www.pubaid.com/matthew-clark-charity-pub-award
The competition, now in its second year, seeks to recognise pubs who go the extra mile in their support of charities and good causes. While the sums of money raised are one element, judges are also looking for other involvement, such as hosting meetings for local groups, offering meals as raffle prizes or doing good works in the community, such as litter picking or helping elderly residents.
All pubs who enter the competition are promoted on PubAid’s social media channels and pub companies are encouraging their licensees to take part, with the help of a suite of assets including internal ads and Twitter and Facebook templates. To request these, or to find out more about the competition, contact pr@pubaid.com.
After the closing date, judges will review entries and publish a shortlist of the pubs who are, in their view, best fulfilling the aims of the competition. All finalists will be invited, with their MP, to attend a reception in London, where the overall winner will be announced.
Co-founder of PubAid, Des O’Flanagan said: “We’re delighted with response so far to the Charity Pub of the Year 2019 and grateful to Matthew Clark for their sponsorship which is enabling us to give the competition more support this year.
“Whatever size of pub you run, whether you raise money for a national charity or a local cause, or support your local community in other ways, please think about entering and receiving recognition for the great work done by you, your team and your customers.”
David Philips, Managing Director, Matthew Clark, said: “The support provided by pubs up and down the land for charities and worthy causes is hugely impressive, with licensees and their teams frequently putting in many additional hours to organise fundraising events and similar, on top of the demands of running a pub. They certainly deserve recognition and we are proud to be sponsoring these awards for a second year.”
Mike Wood, MP for Dudley South and Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group, said “We had some fantastic entries for this award last year. It was truly humbling to learn about the amazing things that pubs do to support charities and local community groups. We already have an impressive list of entrants for this year’s competition and are looking forward to welcoming the finalists to a celebration of their achievements in the autumn.”
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Charity Pub of the Year
Last year’s winning Charity Pub of the Year was The Logan Rock in Treen, Cornwall, and the finalists were:
- The Barrels, Hereford
- The Swan, Thornbury, Bristol
- The Crown, Radnage, Buckinghamshire
- The Well Parc Hotel, Trevone, Padstow
- The New Inn, Enderby, Leicester
- The Cabbage Patch, Twickenham
- The Lord Nelson, Urmston, Manchester
PubAid is a working party created in 2009 to highlight the work done by UK pubs for charity, sharing the message that UK pubs raise over £100m per year. PubAid runs the World’s Biggest Pub Quiz, which takes place every March. In 2019, an estimated 1,438 pubs took part.
The PubAid working party is led by co-founder Des O’Flanagan, and includes a number of well-known figures from the pub world, who lend their time and other resources to help spread the positive messages about pubs’ role at the heart of their communities.
Matthew Clark is a leading national drinks wholesaler with over 200 years’ experience supplying drink products, hospitality training, labour management and marketing support to over 16,000 On-Trade premises in the UK.
The All-Party Parliamentary Beer Group was set up in 1993 and has a membership of over 350 MPs and Peers. The Beer Group’s objectives are to broaden recognition of the enormous contribution of brewing and pubs to the UK economy from grain to glass – and to celebrate the unique role that beer and pubs play in our society
For further information:
For PubAid: Ros Shiel at ros@shielporter.com / 07841 694137
For APPBG: Paul Hegarty at paul@beergroup.co.uk or 07808 096250