Pub is The Hub is a not-for-profit organisation, which offers independent specialist advice to publicans on rural services diversification or the options for the community ownership of pubs, so they can all provide viable local services and social value at the heart of their community. In this story we see how they are supporting projects in rural areas across Wales after receiving a grant of £25,000 from The Prince’s Countryside Fund.

Heart of the community: Ty’n Llan in Llandwrog, diversifies services to help local residents come together with support from Pub is The Hub

The Ty’n Llan in Llandwrog, North Wales, is the first pub to be supported in diversifying its services as part of a new two-year programme for Wales from Pub is The Hub in partnership with The Prince’s Countryside Fund.

Pub is The Hub, the not-for-profit organisation that helps pubs to diversify and provide essential local services, is supporting projects in rural areas across Wales after receiving a grant of £25,000 from The Prince’s Countryside Fund.

The Ty’n Llan was reopened after four years of closure in December 2021 by local residents who formed a community benefit society called Menter Ty’n Llan. The core vision to create a busy community hub, encouraging a wide range of ages and interest groups to come together. Its focus is also to support local people by promoting wellbeing and helping to tackle the issues of social isolation and loneliness.

Expert help and a Community Services Fund grant from Pub is The Hub was provided to help support the pub’s calendar of social events, groups and volunteer opportunities. The grant helped with the purchase of equipment to assist these groups, including a crock pot, soup warmer, bingo machine, portable PA, IT equipment, PlayStation, iPad, and garden tools.

This has helped to support an over 60s lunch club, quiz and bingo evenings for all the community, and local clubs including a young people’s group, which have Chromebooks and a PlayStation for educational sessions, entertainment and socialising.

There are now also opportunities for volunteers to be involved in the upkeep of the garden, which includes a sensory and wellbeing corner, for all the community to enjoy.

Chair of the management committee of Menter Ty’n Llan, the community benefit society that owns and runs the pub, Caryl Elin Lewis said: “The range of activities offered at the pub has created a real sense of community and helped to improve people’s health and wellbeing through volunteering, socialising and learning new skills.

She added: “The support from Pub is The Hub has been invaluable in helping us to facilitate and run these important groups that bring local people together. People who would never have previously visited Ty’n Llan as a pub, now visit on a regular basis to participate in activities and meet friends.”

Wales Regional Advisor for Pub is The Hub Malcolm Harrison said: “The Ty’n Llan is a pub that is truly at the heart of its community. It has become the hub of the area and the focus of a range of exciting activities for those in the village and further afield. It has been a privilege to help the team at the Ty’n Llan bring people together in this rural area.

“We are continuing to help pubs in Wales to diversify to help their local communities whether that is projects such as village stores, cafés or allotments.”

Ellie Burnage, Head of External Affairs at The Prince’s Countryside Fund, said: “We are so pleased to be supporting projects such as Pub is The Hub and their work with businesses such as the Ty’n Llan is vital in ensuring that rural communities remain sustainable. Our grants programme, which opens again for applications in March 2023, helps to address the challenges faced by those who live and work in rural areas by powering community-led solutions.”

Pub is The Hub is a not-for-profit organisation, which offers independent specialist advice to publicans on rural services diversification or the options for the community ownership of pubs, so they can all provide viable local services and social value at the heart of their community.
With a proven track record of rural project development and delivery over the last 20 years, Pub is The Hub has worked with great publicans to open shops, libraries, cafes, community cinemas, allotments, play areas and much more. Since 2013, the organisation has also been able to offer small grants through its Community Services Fund.
Pub is The Hub has helped over 600 pubs diversify, with almost 200 of these benefitting from help through the Community Services Fund.
In April 2022 it was revealed that Pub is The Hub would be supporting diversification projects for Welsh pubs after receiving a grant of £25,000 from The Prince’s Countryside Fund.
The new two-year programme will enable Pub is The Hub to help some pubs provide much needed local services and amenities in rural areas across Wales. This could include a wide range of diversification projects such as village stores, community cafes, IT Hubs, allotments and libraries.
Building on its community services work, in 2018 Pub is The Hub conceived its ‘Join Inn – Last Orders for Loneliness’ campaign. ‘Join Inn’, specifically looks to support publicans and their communities to become better connected, helping local people feel less isolated and, in the process helping to alleviate loneliness.

Website: www.pubisthehub.org.uk