The achievements towards our goal so far are listed below:
December 2023
- Concerns raised at the Community Group meeting regarding the lengthy closure of the Hullavington Arms. Agreed to investigate feasibility of the Owner being willing to consider a sale to the Hullavington Community.
- Further in-depth understanding of the Community Ownership Fund and the applicability to the Hullavington pub closure.
January 2024
- Meeting with the owners representative confirmed the willingness of the owner to sell The Old Stables as the replacement pub to the Community. Business planning docs shared to confirm potential viability of the business.
- Made contact with the Plunkett Foundation to get initial advice regarding a Community Ownership Funding. Awarded initial consultancy assistance ahead of membership.
February 2024
- Further discussion with owner and initial village meeting held on 16th February to discuss the potential for the community to own the Old Stables
- Door to door leaflet drop to ensure coverage of all parishioners, access to paper copies and drop-off location.
- Three further meetings for the village plus meetings with various and clubs and groups plus local businesses
March 2024
- Initial analysis of parish survey, sent to the Plunkett Foundation to ratify the approach to the Ownership Fund.
- Established work streams covering Operations Planning, Renovations management, Match funding, negotiations, plus contracting.
- Formed Hullavington Community Society Ltd an unincorporated association and started a bank account for initial pre-incorporation fundraising. Included initial funding from the Founders.
- Passed the Expression of Interest stage, enabling the Society to start the Business Planning, Operations Planning and Feasibility analysis for the Old Stables
- Support from multiple sources including Hullavington’s church PCC, the Garage, local politicians and council representatives.
- Created website, Facebook page and email mailing list.
- Requested and achieved next level of funding for support from the Plunkett Foundation.
- Request to Parish Council for financial cover for the valuation plus pledge to contribute to Match funding
April 2024
- Valuation completed 8th April.
- Drafting of the Community Ownership Fund application including Business plan
All of the achievements have been since the December meeting of the Community Group – which shows the drive and determination of the Management Committee to execute on our plan and succeed in saving a central, village location for people to meet and socialise. This is critical for community spirit and wellness. We must now move quickly but diligently towards purchasing the freehold within a timeframe that is acceptable to the current owner.
June 2024
A busy period where our work creating the documents for our COF submission has dominated. This has included the Business Plan, Community Engagement Paper, Risk analysis and Application Form – a massive and detailed document!
This was also the period when the election was called. This meant that the COF process was put on hold, frustrating and unexpectedly early.
July – September 2024
A period where we completed the supporting documents including the outcome of the valuation report into the business plan. We also conducted a stress test of the business plan with industry experts, an invaluable exercise which focused our attention the critical success factors for the operation.