The Bridge Inn - Whorlton Community Benefit Society

11/08/2025

PLANNING REFUSED & ITV News!!!!!!!!!!
You may have read some of the incredible press coverage last week with articles in the Teesdale Mercury, Northern Echo & the D&S Times all sharing the news that Durham County Council has refused the landlord’s planning application to change the pub into a house!!!!!! This is a huge win for all of us who want to keep the pub a pub, however there is still a long road ahead we are under no illusions of the challenges and hurdles we still face. We also featured on ITV News Tyne & Tees last night - did you see it? Catch up here, 3rd story:

Watch the latest from ITV News - Watch the latest ITV News Tyne Tees programme

21/07/2025

WE'VE PASSED £200K!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

£206,290 to be specific! Wow! Thank you everyone!

Please keep your eyes on your inbox for the public survey launching shortly!

27/06/2025

Huge progress - we're at almost 50% !!

27/06/2025

🚨LATEST FUNDRAISING UPDATE!🚨

We've now managed to raise a WHOPPING £185,700! 🤪

Have you pledged yet? It takes 30 seconds via the online form pinned to the top of this page!!

Come along to our next public meeting at Whorlton Village Hall Thursday 10th July at 6pm for updates, a guest speaker, our survey launch and much more! See you there???

13/06/2025

He may be a controversial character.. but he’s got a point! Have you pledged yet?

04/06/2025

The latest pledge total as of right now is AN AMAZING £84,500 !!! WOW! Thank you so very much! Even more encouraging news is that this amount is from only 50 pledgers so far, with an average of £1,690 per pledger! Please please please if you have yet to submit your pledge - do so now to support our cause and ! HERE IS THE LINK: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvwOKhdTCKZI14voF_22KRHpgmHyllNcZqcCM6unr7-4vvZg/viewform?fbclid=IwY2xjawKtHGtleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETFtT0V2cnNORmRDc2s2ckllAR6dUtW4mgxEVHRIVp4x_z9XTotEjQMzkN9wCdSqAi0DYy_9dWJ1Lxc5asnGLQ_aem_u7UevmnE9YElfnV7lB3gFA

Remember:
1. No money is to be transferred yet!
2. The minimum amount is only £250 - every little helps!
3. This is not a binding commitment!

Any other questions, please get in touch: [email protected]

16/05/2025

💰💰💰 Our first fundraising update 💰💰💰

It's been exactly a week since our first public meeting last Thursday where we shared our plan with the wider community to buy the Bridge Inn and hire a professional tenant to run the pub as a community-owned pub. We have had an absolutely overwhelming response of support and we are absolutely thrilled to share our first fundraising update.... drum roll please...

In just 7 days since the campaign went live, we have received over £47,000 in pledge commitments!!!!!!!!

We are absolutely over the moon - what an incredible community we are lucky to live in!

We know there are more forms on the way and will keep you regularly updated with new totals! If you haven't yet, please submit your pledge using this link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfvwOKhdTCKZI14voF_22KRHpgmHyllNcZqcCM6unr7-4vvZg/viewform?fbclid=IwY2xjawKTjU9leHRuA2FlbQIxMQBicmlkETE1ZzY3eUFpUGxwakVWMFRmAR6HGlmZnR_BDMqUCudvB_7Lyyztbdce4TDu9WVRFRFWb3XHc-uzX1wuCVlSAQ_aem_Oa5lqHigxg52rR_v_E8U9g

09/05/2025

Here are the slides presented:

The Bridge Inn Whorlton Community Benefit Society

09/05/2025

Here is the online pledge form:

Community Share Pledge Form

09/05/2025

Wow! Thank you so very much to everyone who came to our first public meeting yesterday evening. It was amazing to feel supported by so many - I really feel even more confident now that we can do this together!

A quick summary for those who couldn't attend the event:
- We had about 70 people attend from Whorlton, Barnard Castle, Ovington, Winston, Little Newsham, Westwick.
- We discussed our proposal and there were lots of excellent questions from the audience.
- We clarified the next steps which are:
1. Please complete and return a pledge form (post, email, online). Remember this is not a financial commitment, but it just helps us understand how much money we could raise to see if this is a viable project.
2. We have re-scheduled a site viewing for 28th May after a 1st failed attempt..
3. We are arranging an independent valuation of the pub.
4. We must all continue to spread the word and garner support & fundraising - tell everyone you meet!

I will upload the slides presented as well as the link to the online pledge form.