May the cause be with you

Charity does not necessarily have to begin at home. Pubs can unite a community behind a good cause and at the same time boost business. By Phil Mellows.

Profit from charity? Sounds a bit mercenary but profiting from charity events is something that, in the broadest sense, the local pub has always done.

As Christmas approaches and people get into the giving mood it's not just the charities that benefit.

A well-organised event can pull people into the pub, increase take over the bar and help to build the softer side of a business by cementing the loyalty of regulars and getting them to like your pub even more than they already do.

"Local people who feel strongly about their pub will support the business," says Steve Bootland of the Paradise in North London which recently raised £10,000 in a night.

While it is the big events like that which get the publicity, many thousands of pubs around the country are quietly raising the millions that makes the industry one of the largest contributors to charity coffers.

An exact figure is hard to come by but there is no doubt that pubs have the power to generate the fun atmosphere and feeling of togetherness that encourages people to part with their cash.

Pub operators have recognised the commercial benefits too. The Union Pub Company has produced a checklist for publicans to help them make a success of charity events and advises its licensees that, as well as raising cash, a well-organised evening can:

• Fill the pub at an otherwise quiet time
• Attract new people into the pub
• Involve existing customers
• Generate press publicity for the pub
• Establish a great atmosphere of teamwork and community spirit.

Curiously, however, pubcos are not so good at co-ordinated activity at a corporate level. The Giving Campaign is a relatively new organisation representing charities as a whole and encouraging firms to set up payroll giving schemes. For a small administration fee a company can automatically deduct a sum from wages to go to a charity of the employee's choice.

According to the campaign, payroll giving can give employees a positive view of the organisation they work for that can increase staff retention, improve morale and build a stronger sense of team participation as well as being a way for the company to give something back to the community and enhance its public image.

In America, 35 per cent of employees take part in a scheme but only two per cent of British workers do so - none of them in pub companies.

They are likely to be a target for the campaign, though. Its director Peter Gillaney believes that the combination of pubs' charitable tradition and problems with staff retention makes it ideal for managed chains.

"Staff like the idea that their choice of charity is not imposed from above," he said.

"Employers also have the option of matching the donation, meaning they are seen as doubly generous.

"Alternatively, staff can be brought together around a particular cause. It creates a real spirit of collective effort.

"For managed pub groups in particular it can strengthen their links with their people and help to improve staff relationships."

For more information on the Giving Campaign go to www.givingcampaign.co.uk or telephone 020 8238 8662.

Union Pub Co's checklist​

• Make your pub the focal point for the community - exploit your pub's location by holding charitable events that relate to people in the community, the village church, the local hospital, the school etc
• Get involved with larger scale operations - town carnivals, festivals etc by staging your own event as part of it. A beer festival is ideal
• Make use of the space available at your pub. A large garden is handy for barbecues, fireworks and bouncy castles for example
• Choose a local charity and work with the organisers to arrange events
• Tell the local papers, other publications, even TV and radio
• Make the most of your venue by offering to host events for local organisations - school PTAs, rotary clubs, sports clubs, church and women's groups etc
• Contact your suppliers about the event - they may be able to offer support.

Pictured: Spirit Group's Morehall pub in Folkstone, Kent, staged a Rock and Roll Marathon for the BBC's Children in Need appeal raising more than £4,000.​

No fools at the Wheatsheaf​

It's not just village and backstreet pubs that can be the centre of their community. Union Pub Co tenancy the Wheatsheaf, which is in the centre of Bakewell, Derbyshire, has linked up with local charities to put itself on the map.

For the town's last annual carnival pub regulars built two floats - and they finished first and second in the best float contest.

First prize went to a recreation of hit sitcom Only Fools and Horses with a spoof of the Nescafé "afros" ad coming close behind.

Funds raised by the floats went to the Bakewell carnival committee which has distributed the money between several charities.

"Our involvement with the Bakewell community has given the Wheatsheaf true local status which is rare for a town centre pub," said the pub's licensee Richard Templeman. "We like to be at the hub of the town's action. That's the way it should be - a good pub is the heart of a community."

Paradise gained​

It pays to think big as the Paradise by Way of Kensal Green, in North London, discovered when it hosted what manager Steve Bootland believes is one of the most successful charity nights ever to be held in a pub.

A dinner for 95 people, a raffle and a massive auction supported by celebrities raised more than £10,000 for the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, doubling his forecast, and has also done the pub a world of good.

"It has put a community spirit back into the neighbourhood," said Steve.

"The charity night showed the true spirit of a community wanting to help a very good cause.

"Quiz nights and darts matches will certainly help the bar take but won't put even a dent into the funds needed by the charities.

"A bit of hard work and planning doesn't only make a charity a large sum of money but also pay back the pub in goodwill tenfold," he added. "Local people who feel strongly about their pub will support the business and it has certainly worked for us."

The auction was hosted by TV presenter Dermot O'Leary. Craig David, Kylie Minogue, The Coors and Motorhead were among 20 stars who donated signed CDs and clothing while more than 30 local businesses donated a variety of prizes including a Jade Jagger-designed ring, Venetian mirrors, Moroccan tiles, scuba diving lessons, passes to Glastonbury 2003 and paintings.

Upstairs in the function room over 100 people were entertained by DJs and acoustic sets from ELVISS, Peter Cunnah from D*Ream and The Geezers of Nazereth. "It was such a successful night that the decision has already been made to do it annually," said Steve.

Tommy's quiz to be the Ultimate​

Quizzes continue to be an effective way of livening up that quiet night and you can easily turn a contest into a charity event. But they need to be kept fresh and you have to ring the changes to keep regulars interested.

To help out, Tommy's, the charity which funds research into premature birth, miscarriage and still birth, is organising a national pub quiz to be held on one night across the country - Monday, January 27, 2003.

The Ultimate Showbiz Quiz, which has the official support of thePublican.com and the Publican Newspaper, is billed as "the UK's biggest charity quiz night". It will consist of questio