Exciting news - community share offer

5 May 2025

Press Release: Success of the Community Share Offer

The Friends of the Fox are pleased to announce the success of their Community Share Offer for the purchase and renovation of The Fox at Ryton. Supporting the grant of £299,300 from The Government Community Ownership Fund, the share issue has raised a further £173,000.

Chair, David Oliver, commented “There is a buzz of excitement in the community now that the project is well underway. It was marvellous to see the enthusiasm of the recent working groups in tidying the surroundings. Now we have 200 individual shareholders who have invested in this exciting project”.

The necessary surveys have been completed and plans are being finalised for the renovation work. David Thorpe, Vice-chair accountable for the renovations “I am really excited to report that, with Adam Davies taking on the role of Project Manager, we have made a great start and are committed to delivering a renovated and refurbished Fox pub and Community Café; balancing lots of great innovative ideas that have been put forward, with the tight timescale and the funds available. With the level of expert support that we can call on, we are confident that we can deliver a building that enables us to deliver the objectives set out in the business plan.”

Work is now being done to draw up the share certificates and register, ready for the first shareholders meeting. Secretary, Helen May added that this will take place in June. “We are encouraging members to nominate people for the Management Committee. Many of the existing group are keen to stand, but we are always looking to strengthen the team, ensuring that we extend the range of skills and reflect the wider community”.