The Journey Begins......
When The Pheasant sadly shut its doors on 1st October 2019, the village not only lost its pub it also lost its hub. It is widely known that many organisations, clubs, societies and friends relied upon The Pheasant as a meeting point. Over the years, businesses and friends alike used to meet for a pint or maybe a meal or a take out. We can visualise this happening again in the future.
The Parish Council successfully applied to have The Pheasant (its car park and grounds) registered as a community asset. This was approved in December 2019. The next step is to get our pub re-opened again and as such, return it as a village hub once again.
WHO ARE WE?
Jamie West - Jamie, his wife Kathey and two sons have lived in Great Chishill for the last 16 years. He has worked in TV advertising, technology and data roles for over 30 years, most recently with Sky. Although he has now stepped back and set up his own business and is glad not to commute and be able to spend more time in the village.
John Gandy - a property professional who has extensive experience of leasehold and freehold ventures, development and project management.
Vyckie Staines - an experienced human resources director who comes from a family who ran pubs.
Peter Homent - an established accountant with a wealth of experience within the pub trade and purchasing community assets.
Rosemary Drake has lived in the village with her husband David Gadian since 1987, having moved here to work at a local technology consulting company. After leaving her job as Chief Scientific Officer at a high tech engineering company (now Sartorius Stedim Biotech, Royston) in 2014, she ran her own consultancy offering technology and market assessments, business development and technology commercialisation strategies. But she has now retired!
Rosemary successfully applied for grants (bringing in over £260,000) to fund the restoration of St Swithun's Church tower and installation of new facilities. She was the Church's representative for the project; working with the builders, architects and funding agency.
ACTIVITY STATEMENT
The Great Chishill Community Pub Company Ltd. is a community led movement seeking to purchase the only pub in our village, which has been closed for over a year., We intend to transform it into a thriving community business that will cater for everyone in Great Chishill and the surrounding villages. We aim to return the pub as the hub of the community and provide amenities that our village currently lacks and that vulnerable local groups sorely need. We will also return the business as an attraction for the wider community and businesses in the area. We will ensure that once again both the elderly in the village and village clubs and societies will have a place to meet. We also intend to provide a source of home delivery food for the vulnerable.
IMPACT STATEMENT
Reopening The Pheasant as a community-owned pub will have a significant impact on the quality of life of all our residents, reinvigorating our entire village by creating a community hub where local groups, friends and neighbours, young and old can meet with each other thus decreasing social isolation. The reopening will also support local businesses such as B&B’s who’s trade has suffered through the lack of a local place for guests to eat and drink. When our community pub is once again full of people socialising and enjoying themselves, and disbanded village groups have reformed, our village will once again become the inclusive community that residents once enjoyed.
To help us with our mission to save The Pheasant, we have enlisted the help of The Plunkett Foundation. The Plunkett Foundation, is a charity that specialises in helping people acquire and run community assets and has been helping communities since 1919.
To find all about how The Plunkett Foundation has help villages in a similar situation to ours, please visit:
The Plunkett Foundation
To find all about how The Plunkett Foundation has help villages in a similar situation to ours, please visit:
The Plunkett Foundation