Residents' support is needed to help raise £30,000 to enable the community to take over the running Broadwindsor's village pub.

A public meeting will be held today (Tuesday) in Comrades Hall at 7pm in which all residents are invited. They will be asked to support the fundraising campaign which will allow the village to take over the White Lion as a tenant and operate it as a community pub.

The steering group for this campaign includes David Leader as chairman, Susanna Newall, Sandra Burrows, Charles Ouin, Luke Pickering, Andrew Hookings, Chris Newall Elaine Leader, Margery Hookings, Fraser Hughes, Chris Edgerley and Rich Dyke.

A spokesman said: "The deal negotiated with Palmers Brewery represents the best chance the village has for the pub to be refurbished and reopened in spring 2022.

"The steering group believes that community management is the only way the pub can survive. A village pub at the heart of the community benefits everyone, not just pub-goers. It helps keep the community together, provides a social hub and impacts on property prices."

The steering group held a meeting on January 3 and the following was discussed:

• A flyer will be delivered to Broadwindsor households, with supporting information on savethewhitelion.org, Broadwindsor.org and broadwindsorgroup.gov.uk

• The supporting information will include a summary of the project and its history, the steering group vision and the benefits to the community, securing the White Lion's future and business plan forecast, a membership form, legal structure and explanation of funding sources

• It was agreed that membership of Broadwindsor Community Pub, which gives members a right to attend the AGM and vote to ask questions of the management team, will be £5. This is the same as Broadwindsor Community Stores

• The fundraising campaign will take place over a four-week period, from January 11 to February 8. The steering group will sign the tenancy with Palmers Brewery on February 17, only if the target has been reached. Then refurbishment can take place and a manager appointed. Discussions about a potential manager are ongoing.

• Local businesses are being approached to support the community pub project. The Comrades Arms has already raised £3,000 for the project

• Hard copies of the business plan will be available at The Comrades Arms/shop/post office

Don't forget to sign up to our newsletter below!

You can submit your own news straight to Bridport Nub News by using the 'Nub It' button on our home page. This can also be done for events on our What's On page and businesses, groups and organisations on our Local Listings page , also by using the 'Nub It' button.

Please like and follow our online newspaper on your favourite social media channel. You can find us @BridportNubNews on Facebook and Twitter.