Residents of the South Cambridgeshire village of Ickleton are celebrating having their own community pub, with support from Plunkett UK and the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
The Ickleton Lionhearted Community Benefit Society hosted an event on Sunday 22 December to mark their purchase of the Ickleton Lion, with carol singing, mulled wine, hot chocolate and mince pies in the car park of the pub, which was illuminated by festive fairy lights.
The community group is made up of 415 shareholders and received the keys from Greene King a few days before that. It followed an intense ten-week fundraising campaign to secure the £440,000 required for the pub purchase, as well as securing further grants.
This includes £52,300 from the Combined Authority, which is part of its Market Towns Programme aiming to revitalise the area’s market towns and rural hinterlands, delivered by Plunkett UK.
Cutting the ribbon – Pippa Heylings MP (left), Rachel Radford, Chair of Ickleton Lionhearted (centre), Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough (right)
Hannah Barrett, Project Manager at Plunkett UK, says: “We are absolutely delighted that Ickleton will have a pub at the centre of their community once more. Congratulations to them, and what a way to spread festive cheer!
“We know from our experience that community pubs tackle isolation and loneliness, create local employment and volunteering opportunities, and that they are truly inclusive to the wider community, offering an open door for all local residents.
“We encourage others within Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to contact us about our available grants, in partnership with the Combined Authority.”
Now under community ownership! Members of the Ickleton Lionhearted Committee as the key to the pub is handed over.
Dr Nik Johnson, Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, helped to cut the ribbon at the opening, and said: “Today was a fantastic celebration of all that can be achieved with care, cooperation and delivering for the community.
“The people of Ickleton should be justifiably proud of all they have achieved and the combined authority will continue to support them and all other community groups who aspire to deliver such positive change for their communities.”
Rachel Radford, Chair of the Ickleton Lionhearted group, says: “There’s been such a lot of work behind the scenes in recent weeks to negotiate the successful purchase of the Lion. It’s been wonderful to share this moment with so many people in the community and to celebrate the goodwill and generosity that’s got us this far. We hope this event will be the first of many joyful celebrations as we get the pub back up and running again.”
The Ickleton Lion has stood at the heart of the village for over 300 years, but closed in summer 2023. The vision for the community-owned pub is to create a warm and welcoming space serving affordable food and drink.
Not only can it become a social hub for the quarter of village residents who live alone, but be a meeting place for parents, a workspace for residents and a convening space for local groups and clubs.
Villagers gather at the event in December 2024 to celebrate community ownership of the Ickleton Lion
Patrick Watson, an Ickleton resident and project manager who has volunteered to oversee the repairs and refurbishment of the Lion, said: “The building survey has highlighted urgent repairs needed to the roof and we need a new kitchen too. Luckily, the community is delivering once again and we’ve had over 100 offers of free support from local people and tradespeople to get us to our first opening night in the pub rather than the car park!”
Repairs and refurbishments of the Ickleton Lion are expected to take several months but the aim is for the community-owned pub to open its doors to customers again mid-2025. Calls for further support – both financial and in-kind – will be made through their website and ‘Ickleton Lion Community Pub’ social media pages.
With funding from the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, Plunkett is able to help community groups across the region take ownership and operation of local assets, such as pubs, shops, cafés and other community buildings, that are vacant or at risk of closure.
Small grants of up to £7,500 are being awarded to community groups to cover costs of starting a new community business, including the cost of forming a Community Benefit Society, property valuations and surveys, legal fees and architect fees.
Follow-up bigger grants of up to £45,000 are being awarded to up to 13 groups who can demonstrate strong, feasible plans and the ability to get money from other funding agencies and community partners. This capital grant will pay for costs such as purchase and refurbishment.
Shareholders were given exclusive access into the pub building for the first time since it closed its doors in summer 2023.
Photos: Ickleton Lionhearted Community Benefit Society
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