Celebrating ICOF 50th birthday – looking back at our loans – The Crown Inn, South Moreton

Today, The Crown Inn is an award winning, community owned, traditional country pub in South Moreton, Oxfordshire, and we are proud to have been part of their story.

In 2015, the pub had been bought by a developer. The village had been without  a shop or a village hall for years, and residents feared they would lose their last place to meet and socialise. After listing the pub as an Asset of Community Value, and incorporating a Community Benefit Society, a community share issue raised £332,350 from 128 investors. This unlocked other finance – grant and loan – enabling the Society to purchase the pub on 27 September 2018.

The team behind the pub are ambassadors for Community Pubs and offer their help and support to other villages in a similar situation. They say, “If your village is facing our situation, remember: brewers and developers depend solely on inertia to get their plans through. If you organise and show you won’t back down, they will back off and move on to easier prey… so FIGHT! Please feel free to contact the SMCBS Committee if you need any help or advice.”