2nd October 2020
Windsor Observer: “Saved pub wins Award for work during lockdown” by Francis Batt on Friday 2nd October, 2020.
Transcript
Saved pub wins – Award for work during lockdown
By Francis Batt, francis.batt@newsquest.co.uk
A PUB saved by community members who would not let it die has won a prize for helping people combat loneliness and isolation during lockdown.
The Swan in Mill Lane, Clewer won the Keeping the Community Entertained category at the 21st annual Great British Pub Awards, held virtually last week.
During lockdown, The Friends of The Swan organised more than 30 online events across 12 weeks, supported by regular weekly emails and busy social media pages, to keep community spirit alive. Activities included a virtual book club, moving the local sewing group online, online bingo and virtual pub quizzes.
Sunday tea times saw the launch of ‘Dancing Through the Decades‘, where a local singing duo ran a series of Facebook Live gigs, and the pub’s YouTube channel introduced ‘Rachel Reads‘, where one of the volunteers recorded bedtime stories to help frazzled parents.
The story of the Swan is an inspiring one. It was closed for three years before the community banded together and took out a mortgage on it.
They did not let lockdown defeat them and now, of course, the pub is open again and a proud prizewinner.
A few weeks ago, a life-saving piece of medical equipment, an automated external defibrillator, was installed outside the pub in memory of retired doctor Adrian Chojnacki, one of the team that worked to save the pub.
Anne Tebbatt, chairman of the Friends of the Swan group, said: “It is amazing. We did not expect to win with so many London pubs competing for the public votes, and we were the little old Swan. It just goes to show the whole community stood behind the Swan.“
Coca-Cola provided £165,000 for the Great British Pub Awards, to help winners continue their community work.
“The whole community stood behind the Swan“, Anne Tebbatt, chairman of the Friends of the Swan group.