Ogbourne residents save local village pub after two-year campaign

A group of local campaigners - who ran a campaign known as Save The Silks - have saved their beloved pub after raising nearly £240,000 through a community share offer and securing matched funding from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund.

 

This has allowed the group to purchase the Freehold and means they can now start the work required to bring the pub up to standard and ready to open later this summer.

 

The pub previously stood closed and empty during the pandemic. 

Stuart Williamson, Chair of The Ogbourne Community Pub Society, said: "The society was set up with the aim of bringing the pub into community ownership to secure the future of the pub for the local community, which lacks any other shared meeting place other than the church, but also crucially to ensure it becomes more than a pub by delivering on our plan to reduce isolation, promote healthy living, ensuring accessibility for all and promoting local history and heritage."

The team are now in the final stages of recruiting a Manager and will then be looking to recruit a chef and the wider kitchen and front of house team during early summer.

They say they are also on the look out for any companies or individuals who may be able to donate their time, materials, or services as they refurbish both the interior, exterior and garden over the coming months. The team say they are especially keen to find anyone who can help with flat roofing or kitchen flooring.

Stuart added: "Whilst we don’t have a definitive opening date yet we do hope to welcome people from near and far to the new Silks on the Downs before the end of the summer for great food and drinks in a friendly welcoming environment."

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