GET INN!

Deadline nears to buy shares and save a pub

People driving through Cornwood Village can’t help but notice that something big is going on at the Cornwood Inn!  The front of the pub is now sporting a huge orange banner which says ‘Buy community shares to save this pub – GET INN’.  

The Cornwood Inn was closed in August last year and then sent to auction.  This was the only remaining pub in the parish and the locals were not going to let it go to developers without a fight.  A group of volunteers called the Cornwood Inn Action Group (CIAG) managed to save the pub using emergency loans and have been running events at the pub since November, although it is not open on regular basis.

CIAG has now launched a community share offer aiming to raise £350,000 (or more) to secure the future of the pub.  Al Goodwin, who provides the legal brains within CIAG, said: ’This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to do something special; to come together to save our village pub – to see it owned and run by the community for the community.’

The share offer opened just before Christmas which gave people the opportunity to buy shares as gifts as well as for themselves – and the results have been staggering.  So far just under £80,000 has been raised within the community and they now need people from further afield to help. There is a special class of shares for people who live within a 10 mile radius of Cornwood parish (which includes Ivybridge; South Brent and Plymouth) with a minimum investment of just £50. 

John Sykes, CIAG treasurer, added: ‘Buying shares will help put Cornwood Inn back on its feet and the heart back into the village, which is a fabulous reason to buy them in itself.  But you could also get potential financial benefits, including the possibility of interest and significant tax relief - you can read all about this in the Share Offer document on our website.’ 

The emergency loans will have to be paid back soon so this share offer stage is only open until the end of January.  

If you want to help save this lovely traditional Dartmoor pub, go to cornwoodinnag.wixsite.com/ciag to buy shares and download Share Offer & Business Plan. Or you can email questions to  CIAGShareOffer@gmail.com.  If you don’t have internet access; please phone 01752 837381 for more information.