As the pub industry faces another challenging year, Pub is The Hub has been continuing its work to encourage publicans to reposition the role of their pubs by diversifying to provide a wider range of services and activities to help revive rural areas and bring social value to local people.

The not-for-profit organisation helps pubs to provide essential local services, such as village stores, community cafés, allotments and IT hubs, and also raises awareness of activities publicans can engage with to help tackle societal issues including loneliness and the current cost-of-living crisis.

Among initiatives Pub is The Hub has been helping to highlight to publicans is The Chatty Café scheme, www.thechattycafescheme.co.uk, with the not-for-profit organisation looking for more pubs to offer ‘Chatter & Natter’ tables to help support people at risk of social isolation and loneliness.

The Chatty Café, was started by founder Alex Hoskyn in 2017, who after sitting in a supermarket café, with her then baby son, observing others sat on their own started thinking about the positive impact people could have on each other if they sat together having a chat, rather than on their own.

The Local Bar in the village of Branton, near Doncaster, is among around 35 pubs currently offering a ‘Chatter & Natter’ table.  The table has helped establish a group of eight friends, called the ‘chatties’, who now come to the pub’s weekly quiz night together, meet for other events and outings and have become regular customers.

Publican Laura Local said: “There is a very strong sense of community where the pub is, and being involved with schemes like this shows people that we want to be and are part of that community. There is also a nice feeling that you have helped to foster friendships for people, who are enjoying the social interaction from a new group.”

Pub is The Hub has also been helping to raise awareness with publicans of ‘Warm Spaces’ initiatives to help support people in their local areas in these challenging economic times.

At The Blue Bell in the village of Stoke Ferry, Norfolk, the pub’s community café (which was set-up with the support of Pub is The Hub), local people are being encouraged to come along to daytime events and groups at the café to keep warm and connect with others.

Jim McNeill, an original founder member of the Community Benefit Society that owns and runs the pub-cafe, said: “The warm space initiative is going really well. We are saying turn off your heating at home and stay with us as long as you wish.”

Pub is The Hub also continues to support the ‘Pubs Welcoming Creativity’ initiative by Creative Lives, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pg97bgpRs9U, the charity that champions community and volunteer-led creative activity, to encourage publicans to welcome creative groups to host activities at their pubs. This builds on its support, over the past few years, of new RSN member Applause (INN CROWD) www.inncrowd.org, who help rural pubs and licensed venues put on live shows.