News

April 2015 is CAMRA’s Community Pubs Month. The aim is to get people excited about the pubs in their community again. Pubs used to be important pillars of the community, friendly and accessible meeting places where people from all different walks of life could eat and drink together. In many places this is still true; unfortunately though, 29 pubs still close every week. At Utility Helpline we work tirelessly to help pubs find the right deal on their energy supply and reduce their outgoings; but trimming bills is not always enough. Community Pubs Month is a plea for everyone to visit the pub again. People need to re-discover pubs as the inclusive social settings that they truly are, rather than just as the ‘local boozer’. A great community pub is adaptable to the needs of its locals offering the perfect social environment for everybody. Thousands of publicans, up and down the country are keen to show off just how hospitable their pub is, but they simply don’t get enough people through the doors. Research published by CAMRA found a massive 40% of people no longer visit the pub and only 14% of adults visit the pub once a week or more. This decline in visitors seems to be accelerating. In January 2015, 23% of pub-goers said that they now visit the pub less often than they did just 12 months ago. Despite this worrying trend, CAMRA also found that three quarters of people believe a well-run community pub is as important to a town or village as a post office, local shop or community centre.

Local pubs are still pillars of the community

• 1 in 2 people have attended a wedding reception at a pub
• 3 in 4 have celebrated a friend’s birthday in a pub
• 1 in 5 met their current partner in a pub
• 1 in 2 have had a date in a pub

CAMRA research

What’s on at your pub?

Following the success of the 2014 event, CAMRA hope that Community Pubs Month will once again act as a campaign around which all pubs can focus their marketing activities. Pubs are encouraged to take part by organising events that bring the local community together. They are also recommending that pubs experiment with some different communication methods like press releases, local newspapers and social media to advertise their events. For our part we’ve put together a Twitter guide for pub landlords to help publicans talk to potential customers via the internet. Landlords are also encouraged to download the CAMRA Community Pubs Month poster to help promote the month and any events that might be running locally. Most importantly, the public should seek out what’s on at their local and support their community pub. Go ahead, you might just surprise yourself.