The Friends of the Fox held a pub night and meeting on Wednesday 21st February and gained much support and encouragement. A highlight of the evening was a moving speech by Adele Wright:
After moving to Ryton a year ago, and becoming involved in the Steering Group and fundraising, Adele heard countless stories of how The Fox Inn had become part of so many family moments; wedding anniversaries, 18th or 21st birthday parties or meeting friends who had long since passed away for a traditional Sunday afternoon drink. Adele still firmly believes that The Fox Inn will provide a vital community hub for so many, and continues to support the reopening of The Fox Inn because she wants it to become part of her family story: celebrating exam results, passing a driving test or meeting new friends for that Sunday afternoon drink.
The 1st April has been set as the deadline to reach the target of £200,000 in pledges and support. This will then cement the bid for £250,000 Government funding from the Community Opportunities Fund that will be submitted later that month.
Further pledges of skilled labour and materials are being received from local trades and firms. The renovation of The Fox will benefit from all this support ranging from building, carpentry and electrical skills, to building materials and tool hire.
Integral to the plans for The Fox to be a Community Hub is the Community Café, and local people have been registering their interest to volunteer in the Café once open.
A further programme of fundraising events is planned with Family Bingo on Saturday 16th March, followed by a quiz and another Sewing Bee event. Because we have received grants to cover the project costs including surveys, advisor fees, share issuance costs and publicity, all monies raised at the fundraising events will go towards the purchase and refurbishment.
Vice Chair, David Thorpe commented “Because we have successfully received advanced assurance from HMRC that we qualify for the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), tax payers can receive a tax credit of up to 50% of their investment in shares, enabling them to invest more”.
Treasurer, Martin Sells added “We had pledges of over £117,000 before the meeting, and more have come in already. We have set up a GoFundMe page which is already attracting interest. Support such as this really strengthens our case for grant funding. It shows how much the community are behind us in reopening The Fox. Please visit our website to find out more”
Contact details:
David Oliver (Chair): 07890 312970
Helen May (Secretary): 07813 786859
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