8th February 2019
Windsor Express: “Raising a glass for group who saved The Swan” by Kieran Bell on Friday 8th February, 2019.
Transcription
Raising a glass for group who saved The Swan
‘Ceremony of the keys’ marks takeover of pub by community.
Nearly 300 people at a pub in Clewer on Saturday as a Ceremony of the Keys celebrated the community group that saved it.
The Swan in Mill Lane was put up for sale by previous owners the Wellington Pub Company in April, but since then an army of campaigners have worked to take their local into their own hands.
It is now all systems go for the Swan Clewer Community Interest Company (CIC) which has raised more than £190,000 of its £200,000 target to begin refurbishments.
April opening date proposed
The group wants to turn it into a thriving public house and community hub, together with Windsor’s Green Room School, which will provide work experience opportunities for students.
Richard Allen, executive head at the school, has been working with Willie Calvert, of the Windsor and Eton Brewery, to deliver the project.
The group had an offer accepted by Triodos Bank in November after months of trying to get a mortgage, and hope to open ‘with a smile’ in the spring.
It will first start work on the bar before working on other areas of the pub.
The ‘ceremony of the keys‘ saw the pub gates symbolically unlocked in front of the crowd.
The group had received the keys on Tuesday, January 29 following the completion of the purchasing process earlier in the month.
An offer to buy The Swan was accepted on November 23. After the ceremony, Richard said: “It has been a long road but that was just the prologue -we are about to start chapter one.
“If we can open by the end of April then we would be absolutely delighted.
“To start with something that is just an idea, and then for it to gain momentum, everybody there had put something towards it. It is really heartening.”
Kate Donovan, relationship manager at Triodos Bank, said: “Community ownership encourages people to work together in ways that have a positive impact beyond maximising profit, and it is great to see the organisations that we support put this into action.“
Volunteers are helping at the Swan this weekend to get the pub ready before professional contractors are brought in.
Sign up using the volunteer form at www.theswanwindsor. co.uk