Supporting our local community is at the heart of the New Fountain Inn. Our pub was saved because people within the community cared about its future, so we have always felt a responsibility to give something back and support the clubs, schools, organisations and individuals around us.
Our support takes many different forms. We host and promote fundraising events, provide raffle prizes and vouchers, help publicise local activities through our social media channels, provide a venue where groups and communities can come together, and support fundraising initiatives wherever we reasonably can.
Our quiz nights have become particularly important community events. We have hosted quizzes for local organisations and individual causes, including an event for a local family affected by cancer which brought together 18 teams and raised more than £1,600. We have also supported fundraising for the local pre-school and other charitable causes.
We have strong links with our local sporting community through Whimple Football Club and Whimple Cricket Club, and we are keen to support grassroots sport because these clubs, just like the village pub, provide places where different generations can meet, socialise and feel part of something.
Our relationship with local schools and younger members of the community is equally important. We support Whimple Primary School, Whimple Pre-School and the Scouts, helping with fundraising, events and other initiatives. We have also provided work-experience opportunities for young people, giving them an introduction to hospitality and the workplace.
We support organisations such as Whimple Village Hall and the Gardening Club, as well as neighbouring rural organisations including Heathfield Farm at Broadclyst. We also work closely with and promote the Whimple Heritage Centre, located next door to the pub, helping visitors discover more about the history of our village.
Importantly, community support isn’t always about writing a cheque. Often what we can offer is just as valuable: our premises, our time, our reach on social media, our customer base and our ability to bring people together. If a local club or organisation needs help promoting an event, raising funds or simply getting people through the door, we will always try to help.
We genuinely believe that a village pub should contribute to the place in which it operates rather than simply trade within it.
When a local family was going through an incredibly difficult time following a cancer diagnosis, we wanted to do more than simply make a donation, so we decided to use the pub and the community around us to make a genuine difference.
We organised a special charity quiz night and put everything we could behind it, using our social media, customers and local connections to encourage as many people as possible to get involved. The response was incredible. Eighteen teams filled the pub and together we raised more than £1,600 for the family.
For us, though, it wasn’t simply about the amount of money raised. It was about giving people somewhere to come together and show a local family that their community was behind them during an extremely difficult period.
We’ve tried to take that same approach whenever somebody locally needs support. Whether it’s a regular experiencing difficult circumstances, a local school or pre-school fundraising, the Scouts needing support, a sports club, a charity or another village organisation, we’ll always ask ourselves what we can actually do to help. Sometimes that’s a donation or raffle prize, but often it’s giving our time, providing the venue, promoting something to thousands of people through our social media or bringing our customers together behind a cause.
That particular evening is something I’m extremely proud of because it demonstrated what I believe a proper village pub should be.
