Essex pub runners-up in Pub Saving Award 2024
The Chequers Inn in Roxwell had been closed since January 2020 and under threat of being converted to housing
An Essex pub has been announced Runners-up for the Pub Saving Award 2024 after closing down in January 2020.
The Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society were successful in saving the Chequers Inn in Essex which had been closed since January 2020 and under threat of being converted to housing.
The campaign drew supporters from as far as Australia and the USA.
It was initiated by the Roxwell Chequers Community Benefit Society who says:
"it’s been quite a year! We will have a fully restored pub owned controlled by the community going into 2025.
"We have a number of leads in the pipeline in the search for a tenant, but it is early days with all so please do continue to spread the word and direct people to the website for more information.
"We couldn’t have got here without the tremendous community, huge volunteer effort and the backing of Shareholders. THANK YOU! Pat yourselves on the back, raise a glass – we are on the home run!
Emma Swift, who led the campaign, tells Greatest Hits Radio "The Chequers has been a public house in the village of Roxwell for hundreds of years."
"In 2024, the RCCBS raised the funds to buy it for the community and volunteers rallied to help refurbish it.
"2025 sees it ready to enter a new chapter which we are all very excited about."
Pub Saving Award Coordinator Paul Ainsworth said: “When a pub closes, it is incredibly hard to open the doors again, with many losing the battle to conversion or demolition."
"That is why these awards are so important, the hard work and dedication shown by these campaigns to save local pubs deserve recognition.
"They are all inspirational stories, that will hopefully encourage more pub saving campaigns, so future generations can enjoy the wonderful sense of community that only a pub can provide."
CAMRA has named the Old Horn Community Pub Society, who saved the Old Horn Inn in Spennithorne, North Yorkshire, as the winner of the consumer group’s Pub Saving Award 2024.
The pubs will be presented with the award at forthcoming events organised by the respective local CAMRA branches in early 2025.