As the challenges faced by hospitality businesses grow, more pubs are being taken over by groups of community members trying to keep an integral part of their small towns alive.
Across regional Victoria, pubs in places like Apsley, Lockington, Boolarra, Sea Lake, Dingee, Nandaly and Yinnar are owned by groups of locals.
Australian Hotels Association Victoria senior manager for membership and industry engagement, Kimberley Malcolm, said it was becoming a growing trend as residents realised the value in their local pub.
"I think it's really due to that integral part of the community that the pub plays, the centre of the community, the hub," she said.
"It's where people come to celebrate, where they come to commiserate, and all of the things in between."
Ms Malcolm said it was a dream for many people to buy a pub but it could be challenging for one owner.
"I think it can be financially prohibitive for many. It can be a tough job and sometimes it feels isolating," she said.
"But I guess this way the financial burdens are shared, as well as the pressure and the risks."
Tears of joy as pub reopens
The Railway Hotel in Dingee, central Victoria was last year struggling to find a buyer when more than 20 shareholders decided to take ownership and re-open the pub after almost two years of COVID closure.
"We could see that taking ownership of the pub was really important, or it would be no pub, no town," co-owner Matt Bowles said.
"I've got a lot of mates who I grew up with around here and you can drive past their front gate often, and think I'll drop in one day, but you never do.
"Where at the pub, you turn up here on a Friday night and you'll bump into someone and have a chance to have a good chat. It's great."
Bar manager Suzi Shand moved to Dingee to run the pub in June.
"I've had many a grown man sitting at the bar of the pub nearly in tears because they're so overwhelmed with joy that the pub has reopened — just like it was back in the day," she said.
"It's the meeting place where that networking gets done, jobs get done — super important to the town."
Ms Malcolm said community ownership also had flow-on effects for local businesses.
"They know who are the best suppliers and producers around the town — they might know where the best asparagus has grown, or who provides the best beef," she said.
"So those local connections will impact the menus."
Bringing in new residents
In 2018, residents of the Nandaly district in Victoria's Mallee pitched in to buy the local pub after it closed the year before.
Terry Kiley, a local farmer and one of those instrumental in getting the pub back up and running, said its closure had left a big hole in the community.
"The doors closed and then we had no pub, no meeting place," he said.
"So when the previous publican died, his estate agreed to our offer and we gutted the place and got it reopened in September 2018."
The money to renovate and reopen the pub came from memberships, with a minimum buy-in of $250, although many people gave much more knowing there would be no dividend and any profits would be given to the Nandaly Progress Association.
The pub has had a few managers over the years, including one woman who found love with a local farmer.
Since Christmas, it has been run by Shae Ferguson and Nathan Skaife, who relocated from Brisbane with three children to take the reins.
"It was really hard in Brisbane raising the kids, both of us working full-time and living week to week," Ms Ferguson said.
"A lifestyle change is something we always wanted for our kids, to be able to raise them in a small community of friendly, like-minded people."
Ms Ferguson said it had been the move of a lifetime.
"It's like one big family here, everybody knows everybody and tries to help. It's just the way it works around here," she said.
"We really love the lifestyle change and we see ourselves staying here for a long time and being part of this community."
