City's only community-run pub celebrates milestone

3 hours ago

Charis Scott-Holm,East Yorkshire and Lincolnshireand

Jasmine Lowe,Hull

Simon Berry is chairman of the Hull Community Pub Society

BBC A man with a bald head and grey beard smiles at the camera. He is in a pub beer garden with plants behind him. He is wearing a red polo shirt. — Simon Berry is chairman of the Hull Community Pub Society

A pub co-owned by more than 600 people is celebrating its one-year anniversary.

The New Clarence on Charles Street is run by the Hull Community Pub Society, with each member paying £100 for their share.

The pub, which marked the occasion with a party earlier, became vacant in 2023, sparking a campaign by the society to buy it back for the community.

Chairman Simon Berry said: "One year down the road and here we are trading away and more and more people are coming through the doors, which is fantastic."

The New Clarence in Hull city centre held a party for regulars to celebrate its one-year anniversary

Catherine Murray The outside of The New Clarence pub. It is painted blue and gold and has a section of seating in front of it with blue and gold balloons attached. There is a balloon arch at the entrance too. — The New Clarence in Hull city centre held a party for regulars to celebrate its one-year anniversary

Berry said the venture was unique in that community-owned pubs were often in rural villages, not city centres.

He also said the pub did not belong to a brewery, which meant they had more freedom as to what drinks they could offer.

The society is now trying to fundraise £100,000 to refurbish the upstairs of the pub, to create a community function room, with £39,000 still to raise.

The pub now has several themed events, including a quiz night and craft club

Several groups of people sit around tables in the pub with drinks in front of them. — The pub now has several themed events, including a quiz night and craft club

Discussing the potential longevity of the pub, Berry said it was meeting its monthly targets, and added: "We hope for it to be here in years to come. But the proof is in the pudding, isn't it?

"People have to come through the door and see it. And here it is, a year down the line.

"The people coming through the door shows that it was worth doing."

Berry said the purchase was met with a "small minority" of people who were sceptical about the pub being owned by a community group but hoped it would change people's minds and encourage others to do the same.

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