Winners Announced in PubAid Community Pub Hero Awards

Three pubs have been named as overall winners in the Community Pub Hero Awards, the national competition organised by PubAid and the All-Par ty Parliamentar y Beer Group (APPBG)

The winners were selected from a list of 15 finalists, who all impressed the judges with their outstanding suppor t for their local communities and charity The overall winners announced at an awards presentation in the House of Commons on 28 March, are:

Community Suppor t Pub Hero: The Bellf ower, Gar stang, Preston, Lancashire

• Char ity Fundraising Pub Hero: The Beeswing Inn, Nor thaller ton, Yorkshire

• Community Regular Hero G yn Hassell at The Dog & Parrot, Nottingham Presenting trophies to the winners Matthew Clark Trade Marketing Director John Steele said:

“We are delighted to recognise the incredible community and charity suppor t provided by our winners by naming them as our overall Community Pub Heroes Congratulations to all three pubs for this well-deser ved recognition ” bAid co-founder Des O’Flanagan added: “We received 200 entries for our awards, so reaching the final 15 was an achievement in itself and going on to take one of the top awards is a triumph! We’re delighted with the recognition the Awards give to all our finalists and winners, who are truly a force for good in their communities

The Rt Hon Alun Cairns MP, Chairman of the All-Par ty Parliamentar y Beer Group, said: “We were delighted to receive 70 nominations from MPs, which shows how pubs are valued as hubs of charity and community suppor t in constituencies across the countr y Congratulations to all three Community Pub Heroes

Each winning pub received a trophy and both Matthew Clark and PubAid will be donating £250 each to a charity chosen by the pub

The Community Pub Hero Awards first ran in 2018, with entries and interest growing ever y year The Awards now offer two categories for pubs: Community Suppor t Hero and Charity Fundraising Hero, and a Community Regular Hero where pubs nominated a suppor tive customer

Heather Por ter-Brandwood, licensee of The Bellflower, said:

“It was amazing to be shor tlisted for this award, to win it is unbelievable! We ve always believed that if you re in a position as we are where you can help people , why wouldn’t you help? That’s why we ’ ve suppor ted such a lot of local charities and good causes over the years and will continue to do so ”

Beth Robinson, licensee of The Beeswing Inn, said: “We’re ecstatic about this win! Today has been a brilliant day as on our way to this presentation we learned that building is going to star t on a new hospice suite at Nor thaller ton Friarage Hospital, which we are funding This has been our goal ever since my dad passed away at the Friarage four years ago and it s going to make such a difference enabling families to stay with their loved ones at the end ”

Kathr yn Boam, licensee of The Dog & Parrot, said: “Glyn has helped us in so many ways; he arranges our charity events manages our social media and has raised the profile of the pub With his help we ve raised £45 000 for charity, which is huge for a small pub like ours We’ve just completed our third annual ‘March for March’ 10-mile walk in aid of Combat Stress, meaning we ’ ve now raised £7,000 for this charity, which suppor ts veterans’ mental health ”