A Message from the Swan

‘The Swan at Staunton is currently closed. Please consider our sister pubs The Royal Exchange in Hartpury or The Red Lion on the banks of the River Severn at Wainlode.’

The Swan public house reopened in a limited capacity at the end of May and into June 2021, operating every Friday & Saturday night for drinks, apart from a short Covid enforced closure on 28th and 29th May.

Various street-food vans were invited to visit the pub over that period so that there was food available for those who wanted to enjoy a meal in the pub over a drink or two.

It has been great to see a few familiar faces and some local support over this time. We have received such positive and heart-warming comments from many who have visited us and who were pleased to see the pub back in action, albeit on a limited basis.

Sadly, Rob and I are no longer in a position to give up every Friday and Saturday night to manage the pub, as we have a young family and with Covid restrictions, lack of available staff and low and decreasing number of customers we have had to face the realisation that despite our best efforts, we are unable to keep the Swan open at this time and sadly we have closed the doors to the pub after service on Saturday 26th June.

Looking to the future, we have been in discussions with The Swan Community Group (SGC) who are local volunteers looking at opportunities to revitalise the Swan and indeed, some members of the group and their families, have worked with us over this period to get a feel for how the pub operates.

It is our intention to continue to work with and support the SGC so that the Swan can hopefully re-open later in the year and continue to serve our community into the future and we are sure that with your support, this can happen. We are hoping that a number of community events being considered will run through the summer and help the community group in identifying different ways in which the building could be used within the community. We welcome these initiatives. Our hope is that the pub could re-open in the Autumn when the removal of Covid restrictions should make operations easier and the necessary team is in place. We are discussing these options with the community group.

If you are interested in joining The Swan Community Group – to volunteer your services, offer knowledge, skills and experience to continue as a viable community asset – please contact the group on the following email address TheSwanCommunityGroup@gmail.com.

A huge thank you to those that have supported the pub in the past and over the last six weeks.

Michelle and Rob Chamberlayne

A Message from The Swan Community Group:

You may have seen the notification that despite best intentions to keep the pub open, The Swan Public House, Staunton has closed as of 26th June this year. Various factors lead to this decision, one of which was very few patrons which meant that the business was not viable.

We (SCG) have been working with Chamberlayne Farms Ltd to identify opportunities to keep the Swan open in some form or other as a valuable community asset and the heart of our community. At this time, a solution has not been found; however, discussions are ongoing, and all possible options are being explored.  It’s interesting to note that in the recent SCG survey over 90% of respondents said that the Swan was important to the village, and they would use it if it reopened. Apart from the opening weekend, attendance figures have not supported this. Whilst we recognise that Covid is creating challenges, we must face the fact that if we don’t support our local business they cannot continue to function. 

If we genuinely want to keep our community assets and our community feel, we need to work together or risk becoming nothing more than a satellite commuter village for local towns and cities. We are truly in a “use it or lose it” situation.

If you are interested in joining The Swan Community Group – to volunteer your services, offer knowledge, skills and experience or would be happy to consider providing financial support to enable The Swan to continue as a viable community asset – please contact the group on the following email address.

TheSwanCommunityGroup@gmail.com

We will endeavour to keep you informed as and when new information becomes available about the future of the Swan.

Regards

Swan Community Group