Positively Newsworthy – Spring 2010 (sneak peek)

Co-operative Pub for Local Community

The Star Inn in Salford was given three weeks’ notice of closure, but, after locals clubbed together, the pub is back in business as a community-owned co-operative. The new pub coincides with the launch of a report, ‘Calling Time on Pub Closures – The Co-operative Answer’, by Co-operatives UK which documents trends in pub closures and sets out advice on creating co-operative pubs.

Ed Mayo said: “Pub closures can be like pulling the plug on local communities. It is scandalous that pubs like The Star Inn are being closed at three weeks’ notice and it is a tribute to the community in Salford that they responded in an innovative answer to the threat of closure.”

“The Star Inn has been part of the community since 1867,” said Margaret Fowler, a local resident. “People really missed it when it was closed down and that brought us all together to invest our own cash to re-open the pub. It really was easy to set it up as a co-operative and now we have got our pub back, it’s the most fantastic feeling in the world.”

Julian Ross added: “We have shown that by working together, we can preserve something that is very important for the community. As a group, we believed we could safeguard our pub’s future and turn it into a co-operative, and I want to help encourage other communities to try what we have done.”

For more info, visit www.cooperatives-uk.coop …

The full set of stories can be read in the Spring 2010 issue of our print magazine, now available in health stores and holistic centres, or you can have it delivered direct to your doorstep 4 times a year for only €12. To subscribe, visit www.positivelife.ie/subscribe