A new community pub has opened in Wirral with the aim of bringing people together and delivering support to local people in need.
Located in Wallasey, The Crown Community Hub will be a cross between a pub and community centre. Merseyside Woman of the Year 2020, Michelle Leatham, has fused her Building Bridges community project with the Rose & Crown pub to try and revolutionise the role of the pub in today's society.
Michelle has recently taken over the Poulton Road-based venue having previously owned Building Bridges in Birkenhead for four years. The new hub will offer typical pub activities such as live entertainment, bingo, pool and darts teams, live sport and food.
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In addition to being a pub, The Crown Community Hub will also offer some vital services to the local community. There will be a social supermarket open from 10am until 12pm on Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday offering quality food, drink, clothing and more for a discounted price. There will also be a donation based salon and holistic therapy service.
The project will offer support groups, pamper packs for domestic violence victims, free hampers for families in need, affordable movie nights and free Christmas dinners. They will also be offering tea, toast, coffee and television for £1 each day to help people avoid using their heating. Additionally, there are also parties for children and coach trips to places including Chester Zoo.
Michelle said: "We're living in difficult times and it's time to bring pubs back to their original purpose - to be community hubs and meeting places that help, support and bring people together. We've been doing great things at the Building Bridges centres, helping all sorts of people, and when the pub became available I thought about merging the two.
"Unfortunately many people suffer in silence as they are often too proud to come to places like Building Bridges - they worry about the stigma of 'handouts'. A pub is a very social place though, so we're hoping that through the pub environment we can help even more people - combining all the fun pub activities with community outreach activities goes hand in hand really well.
The Crown Community Hub is now open and some of the activities have already started, with a big refurbishment soon to be underway and more developments coming soon. Michelle added: "This project is a huge one and I cannot do it alone.
"I'm about to embark upon a big refurb including replacing the windows, a new kitchen, painting and re-decorating and making the backyard a hidden gem. The project is all about the local community so I'm relying on the help of the local community and also The Prince's Trust kids. It's going to be a real team effort but it will be so worth it!"
The Crown Community Hub is located at 325-327 Poulton Road, Wallasey. To find out what's on or get involved, call Michelle on 07490477053 or follow the venue on Facebook.
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