Community-run Peak District pub's survival story will feature in online festival

The Anglers Rest in Bamford is Derbyshire’s first community-run pub and its survival story will feature in the Community Business Festival which takes place on August 13 and 14.

Rebecca McIntyre, from the Bamford Community Society (BCS) which owns and operates the Anglers Rest, said: “We’re really excited to be taking part in the Community Business Festival this year, sharing our community business with the public. We know first-hand, the power community business can have to make a real difference to local people and we are delighted to be able to share our story and hopefully inspire others to start or join a community business.”

The not-for-profit co-operative was formed in 2012 to resuce the last operational pub in the centre of Bamford. During the campaign to buy the pub, the village Post Office was also placed under threat of closure and so a plan was developed for the Anglers Rest to become a pub, café and Post Office.

By the end of October 2013 the BCS had raised £263,500, secured the Post Office contract and purchased the Anglers Rest. Since then the business has grown to a turnover of around £420,000, employing around nine full-time equivalnet staff.

Robert Largan, MP for the High Peak, said: “I’m very proud to see that the Anglers Rest is being featured in the festival. I am delighted that such a successful community enterprise is in the heart of my constituency, bringing people together and forming a real local hub in Bamford - not least coordinating village activities in the current coronavirus pandemic. I wish them well, and wish the festival every success, which can provide a catalyst for the creation of further community-based businesses.”

The festival will offer live fitness and wellbeing sessions, behind-the-scenes tours and panel discussions exploring how communities have saved facilities like pubs, swimming baths and old industrial buildings.

Everyone is invited to watch the festival. For more details, go to www.powertochange.org.uk/community-business-festival-2020