A Community Benefit Society is a legal entity that is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. It is a not-for-profit organisation. They are springing up all over the country, helping to save and enhance local amenities for communities under threat from unwelcome development.

Finiancial support is critical to protecting the Blue Bell pub from further development. Such help comes in from donation, shares and/or loons, on which interest will be paid. So far, some £160,000 has been pledged some 25% of our target of £650,000.

We have started the process of applying for grants from the public sector and charitable organisations, but this will take time to realise. The Big Lottery, for example, could take a year before the application is agreed and funds are allocated. We don’t have that time to wait.

We will be running a Community Share Offer Scheme early in February 2019, meaning the motivation and payback will be more socially focused than financial. Such a scheme helps to ensure a genuinely local enterprise, accountable to the community white serving and benefiting it.

For most villages a pub is a vital service. It acts as a meeting place, a communication centre and an important lynchpin of village life.Similary, a convenience shop and post office can often be a vital lifeline. especially for those without transport, becoming an important connection with the worls outside the village.

Much of the appeal of our village rests on its sense of community. It is the reason many people have moved here, remain here and wish it to remain as it is. The presence of a community hub that conbines a pub, shop and post office would continue to maintain the community spirit that our village embodies. It is also the heart of the village and the heart of the South Downs National Park with its over 18 million visitors each year.

We have an agreement in place to buy the Blue Bell pub, with completion in the spring of 2019. Funds will be raised through a combination of a community shareholding offer, grants, loans and donations.

This kind of venture has been successfully achieved in other communities all over the country, Currently, there are 85 co-operative pubs and over 300 community-owned shops, most set up with the charitable support of the Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) and they have a 100% success rate.

Out main concern is raising enough funds to secure the property. If you could help through either a donation, loan or participation in our share scheme it would be much appreciated.

Others are helping with pledging their time renovating the pub, from the initial setup of the project to managing the enterprise, and, perhaps, day-to-day involvement with the practical running of the community hub.

If you wish to speak directly to someone about this project, please email info@bluebellhub.org and we will be in touch.

We need to acquire the Blue Bell pub building and refurbish it as soon as possible. Our feeling is that the longer it is closed, the more the Blue Bell pub with deteriorate, and its reputation dwindle. Impetus will be lost, and with it, all chance of creating something special for the village and the surrounding area.

If the building is able to be purchased it will be owned by the public through a Community Benefit Society. It will not only remain a pub, restaurant and bed and breakfast, but also in time house the post office and an expanded convenience shop.

It will become the community hub of Cocking.