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The Halfway

Abergavenny, NP7 8TL
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About The Halfway

The atmosphere at The Halfway is warm, welcoming and inclusive. We pride ourselves on being a pub where everyone feels comfortable, whether they are a lifelong local, a newcomer to the area or a visitor passing through.
As a rural village pub, we have retained a traditional feel, with friendly service, a real sense of community and a strong connection to the local area. The pub provides a relaxed environment where people can meet friends, catch up with neighbours, celebrate special occasions or simply enjoy some time away from the pressures of everyday life.

One of the things we are most proud of is how these different groups mix together within the pub. It is common to see farmers, local residents, newcomers and visitors sharing conversations and enjoying community events side by side. The Halfway acts as a bridge between different generations, backgrounds and interests, helping people form connections that might not otherwise happen.

Since taking over the pub in 2022, we have worked hard to create a venue that is about much more than food and drink. Through regular events, community activities and the work of our Community Interest Company, Pubtopia CIC, we have created a welcoming space where people feel they belong. Whether someone joins us for a quiz, a community workshop, a fundraising event, a family meal or simply a chat over a drink, they can expect a friendly atmosphere and a genuine sense of community. What makes The Halfway unique is that we are far more than a pub. While food and drink remain at the heart of what we do, our purpose is centred on bringing people together, reducing isolation and creating positive opportunities within our rural community.

For us, being the heart of the community isn’t about being the busiest pub or serving the most pints. It’s about making a genuine difference to the people who live here.

Rural communities face unique challenges. Services are disappearing, opportunities to meet are becoming fewer, and for many people, particularly older residents, loneliness and isolation are very real. We believe a village pub has a responsibility to be more than just somewhere to eat and drink—it should be a place where people feel welcome, connected and valued.

Since taking over The Halfway in 2022, we’ve worked hard to create a pub that reflects the needs of our community. We’ve established Pubtopia CIC to deliver projects that improve wellbeing, opened a village shop supporting more than 15 local producers, created dementia-friendly sessions, hosted creative workshops, supported local charities, welcomed community groups and provided opportunities for local businesses to grow. None of this has been achieved alone; it has only been possible because our customers, volunteers, local organisations and suppliers have embraced the vision and worked alongside us.

What makes me most proud is seeing people take ownership of the pub. Local volunteers run our monthly charity quiz, customers help shape the events we hold, volunteers give their time to community projects, and local businesses work with us to create opportunities for others. The Halfway belongs to the community as much as it belongs to us.

Winning the Wales Food & Drink Award for Community this year was a wonderful recognition of everything we’ve achieved together, but for me, the greatest reward is seeing friendships formed, confidence grow, local businesses flourish and people knowing they always have somewhere they belong.

That’s why I believe The Halfway is the heart of our community. We don’t just serve our community—we work alongside it, grow with it and invest in its future.

About the Local Community

The Halfway actively supports a wide range of community groups, charities, local organisations and independent businesses by using the pub as a place where people can connect, collaborate and thrive.

Through our Community Interest Company, Pubtopia CIC, we work alongside organisations including GAVO, the Monmouthshire Food Partnership, Abergavenny Wellbeing Centre, the Carers Trust and Adferiad to deliver projects that improve wellbeing, reduce social isolation and strengthen our rural community. We have also begun engaging with the local Community Conversations initiative to help identify local needs and explore ways we can work together with other organisations.

Supporting the local economy is equally important to us. Our village shop provides a platform for more than 15 local food producers, farmers, artists and craftspeople to sell their products, helping small independent businesses reach new customers. We also work with local artists and makers by providing opportunities for them to run workshops and showcase their talents within the pub.

We regularly support charities and fundraising initiatives, including our monthly pub quiz in aid of the Welsh Air Ambulance, and we use the pub as a welcoming meeting place for a wide variety of community groups. We believe that partnerships are the key to creating stronger, more resilient communities, and we are always looking for new ways to support local people, organisations and businesses.

One of the best examples is our monthly pub quiz, which is organised and run entirely by local volunteers. It has become a much-loved community event, raising funds for the Welsh Air Ambulance while bringing together people of all ages. We’re proud that our community feels such a sense of ownership that they’re happy to organise and lead events themselves.

We also involve our regular customers in many of the decisions we make. We actively seek their ideas and feedback on everything from our wine list and drinks selection to which street food vendors, live music acts and events they would like us to host. This means the pub continually evolves to reflect the interests of the people who use it.

The Halfway has become a welcoming venue for a wide variety of groups. We have hosted dementia-friendly sessions, creative wellbeing workshops, charity fundraisers, corporate away days, meetings and social gatherings. We have also opened specifically for organised walking groups, providing refreshments and meals before or after their walks so they have a welcoming base from which to explore the local countryside.

By giving our community a genuine voice in what we do, we’ve created far more than a venue—we’ve created a place that people feel belongs to them. That sense of ownership has helped The Halfway become a thriving hub where local people, community organisations and visitors can come together, build relationships and create lasting memories.

One of the initiatives I am most proud of is the creation of our community village shop. Living in a rural village, we recognised that many local residents had to make a 45-minute round trip simply to buy everyday essentials such as milk, bread, bacon and other groceries. This was inconvenient, costly and particularly difficult for older residents or those with limited transport.

Rather than accepting this as the norm, we created a village shop within the pub, stocking everyday essentials alongside products from more than 15 local farmers, food producers, artists and craftspeople. This has given local producers another route to market while making it easier for residents to shop locally and support independent businesses.

We wanted to take the project even further by making local produce available outside our opening hours. To achieve this, we secured funding from both the National Lottery and the Monmouthshire Food Partnership. Together with other investment, this has brought almost £25,000 into our local community to fund a purpose-built shelter, electrical upgrades and a refrigerated vending machine.

The project is currently in its final stages. The shelter has been built, the electrical infrastructure is being upgraded and we are in the process of purchasing and installing the vending machine, which will allow residents and visitors to access local produce even when the pub is closed.

This project has only been possible thanks to an enormous community effort. Alongside myself, two local customers who are directors of Pubtopia CIC have volunteered countless hours planning, fundraising and delivering the project. It is a fantastic example of what can be achieved when a community works together towards a shared goal.

For me, this project demonstrates what going above and beyond really means. We identified a genuine challenge facing our rural community and worked collaboratively to create a long-term solution that supports local residents, strengthens local businesses, reduces unnecessary car journeys and helps build a more sustainable future for our village.

About Local Businesses

Supporting local businesses is a core part of our ethos, and wherever possible we choose to work with independent businesses, local producers and local talent. We believe that when local businesses thrive, the whole community benefits.

We collaborate with a range of local street food businesses through our regular pop-up kitchen events, providing them with a platform to reach new customers while creating exciting reasons for people to visit the pub. We actively promote these businesses through our social media channels, helping to increase their visibility and encourage repeat custom.

Our village shop showcases products from more than 15 local farmers, food producers, artists and craftspeople. We don’t just stock their products—we actively promote them through our social media, tell their stories and encourage customers to support local businesses whenever possible.

Our own menus also celebrate local produce. We source much of our meat from local butchers, alongside other locally produced ingredients wherever we can, ensuring that the money spent in our pub continues to circulate within the local economy.

We also work with local artists and craftspeople who deliver the creative workshops organised through The Halfway and Pubtopia CIC. These workshops provide them with an additional income stream, introduce their work to new audiences and help preserve traditional skills within our community.

For us, supporting local businesses is about creating genuine partnerships rather than simply buying products. By promoting local suppliers, showcasing their talents, providing opportunities to trade and encouraging our customers to buy local, we help strengthen the local economy and build a more resilient rural community. We are proud that The Halfway has become a place where local businesses can grow, collaborate and succeed together.

Building strong relationships with local suppliers has been one of our priorities since taking over The Halfway. We don’t see our suppliers as simply businesses we buy from—they are valued partners who play an important role in what makes our pub unique.

We work closely with local farmers, butchers, food producers, street food vendors, artists and craftspeople, giving them opportunities not only to sell their products but also to reach new customers. Through our menus, village shop, pop-up kitchen events and creative workshops, we help showcase the quality and diversity of local businesses, regularly promoting them through our social media channels and recommending them to our customers.

Many of these relationships have developed over time and are built on mutual trust and support. We work together to create opportunities that benefit everyone, whether that’s helping a new street food vendor build a following, giving local producers a retail outlet through our village shop, or providing artists and craftspeople with a venue to share their skills and generate additional income.

If The Halfway were no longer here, the impact would extend far beyond our own business. Our regular street food vendors would lose an established venue and customer base, local producers would lose an important outlet for selling and promoting their products, and many small businesses would lose a valuable partner that actively champions buying local. In a rural community, opportunities like these are limited, making those relationships even more important.

We believe our success is closely linked to the success of the businesses around us. By working together, promoting one another and creating opportunities to grow, we help build a stronger, more resilient local economy.

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About Staff at The Halfway

At The Halfway, we firmly believe that we cannot support our community without first supporting the people who make that possible every day. Our team are not simply employees; they are ambassadors for the pub, trusted faces within the community and a vital part of everything we do.

As a small independent rural pub, our team build genuine relationships with our customers. They know many of our regulars by name, notice when someone hasn’t been in for a while and often provide a friendly face and conversation to people who may otherwise have little social interaction. Their warmth and willingness to go above and beyond helps create the welcoming atmosphere that our customers value so highly.

A large proportion of our team are young people in their first ever job. We see part of our role as helping them develop not only hospitality skills, but also confidence, communication skills and self-belief. Over the years, we have seen remarkable personal growth in many of our younger team members. Some joined us initially working behind the scenes in the kitchen because they lacked the confidence to interact with customers. As their confidence grew, they took on new responsibilities, moved into customer-facing roles and now work confidently behind the bar, serving customers, taking orders and building relationships with regulars. Watching young people develop from nervous teenagers into confident, capable young adults is one of the most rewarding aspects of running the pub.

We actively encourage staff to step outside their comfort zones, learn new skills and contribute ideas. Team members are trusted with responsibility and supported to progress at a pace that suits them. We believe that giving people confidence in themselves is just as important as teaching practical skills.

Supporting our team personally is just as important to us as supporting them professionally. We recognise that everyone faces challenges outside of work, and we strive to create a workplace where people feel listened to, valued and supported. We maintain an open-door approach and work hard to accommodate personal circumstances, family commitments and wellbeing needs wherever possible.

We have supported team members through difficult periods in their lives by offering flexibility, understanding and a supportive environment where they know they can ask for help. We understand that life does not stop when someone comes to work, and we try to treat people with compassion and respect.

Through community events, fundraising activities and the work of Pubtopia CIC, our team also play an active role in supporting the wider community. They understand that the pub’s purpose extends beyond hospitality and that they are helping create a place where people feel connected, welcomed and valued.

Ultimately, our team are at the heart of everything we do. By investing in their personal and professional growth, we create a culture where they feel supported and empowered, and in turn they pass those same values on to our customers and community every day.

About Charity Work at The Halfway

Supporting charities and good causes is an important part of life at The Halfway. We believe that even small, regular fundraising efforts can make a real difference, and we encourage both our customers and our team to get involved throughout the year.

Our monthly pub quiz is organised and run by local volunteers, with a £2 entry fee from every participant donated to charity. We are currently raising funds for the Wales Air Ambulance, and we also have a permanent collection pot on the bar to encourage additional donations from customers.

Over the years, we have supported a range of charities, including Dreams and Wishes, which supports children with life-limiting and terminal illnesses and their families, Wales air ambulance and the Royal British Legion.

Being located close to the Offa’s Dyke Path also gives us opportunities to support people undertaking charity challenges. We regularly use our social media channels to promote their fundraising pages, helping them reach a wider audience and encouraging direct donations. On several occasions, we have also offered charity walkers free accommodation or meals so they can focus their efforts on raising as much money as possible for their chosen causes.

We also support our local church by hosting an ink cartridge recycling collection point in the pub. The funds generated through the recycling scheme are donated directly to the church, providing an easy way for local people to contribute while reducing waste.

In addition, we regularly donate raffle prizes and vouchers to local schools, community groups and charities to help them raise funds for their own causes. Whether it’s a village event, a school fundraiser or a charity raffle, we’re always happy to help where we can.

For us, supporting charities isn’t about one-off fundraising campaigns—it’s about creating a culture of generosity and community spirit. By working together with our customers, volunteers and local organisations, we’re proud to support causes that make a real difference both locally and across Wales.

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