Fundraising
Community ownership fund
The Community Ownership Fund is a £150 million fund over 4 years to support community groups across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland to take ownership of assets which are at risk of being lost to the community.
In January 2024 our Expression of Interest in the Fund was approved and in April 2024 we submitted our formal application to the Fund. This included a complete business plan, financial planning and forecasts, community engagement and benefits. Towards the end of May the Society was informed that all applications had been assessed and were going through due diligence. Unfortunately, due to the pre-election period the COF team then gave notice that there would be no further announcements.
The Society took the decision to try to raise the additional funds through a supplementary share offer. This was successful and the pub was purchased in August 2024. As of November 2024 the Government had still not announced the outcome of COF and so clearly we made the right decision.
Community Shares Offer
Community shares are a flexible and effective way to raise finance and are a popular format for local assets that are for the benefit of the community and owned by the community through a one-member-one vote system. According to Co-operatives UK 92% of all businesses who have used community shares are still trading.
In order to support the funding application to Government it will be necessary to evidence the level of financial support that is likely to come from the community. This will be illustrated through share pledges – although non-binding it will present the necessary financial information to complete the essential business planning for the proposed project. An overview of how the share pledges were promoted, the documentation and analysis is available HERE.
The Society ran two community share offers, one either side of the 2024 General Election announcement, which proved successful enough to ultimately not require COF funding.
Since the re-opening of the pub there has been interest from a number of people about purchasing community shares in the Society. Although the full capital was raised for the purchase as and when individuals wish to withdraw their shareholding there will be the opportunity for others to purchase shares. This will take place through a waiting list. If you are interested in potentially purchasing shares in the future then please contact the Secretary at mukercommunitypub@gmail.com or info@mukercbs.org or via the Contact page.
Donations and grants
In addition to the main Government Fund and the Community Shares Offer the Society is extremely grateful to those people that have kindly donated funding to enable the pre-application work to take place. This has included membership of Plunkett UK, building survey and valuation, printing and media costs, FCA registration and legal fees.
In the first year £6,000 was donated and enabled so much to happen so quickly. We look forward to being able to thank some of those individuals in person when they next come to Muker.
make a donation to benefit cbs objectives
The initial priority for the Community Benefit Society was to secure and operate the Farmers Arms pub for the benefit of the community of Muker Parish and the wider community of Upper Swaledale.
In the future, once the Society has built financial reserves, in order to meet requirements with maintaining it’s assets and having funds to meet share withdrawal requests any surplus funds will be used to advance the objectives of the Society. This will include potentially funding other community initiatives and ensuring a welcoming environment for all residents and visitors.
If you would like to make a donation to Muker Community Benefit Society then please contact us at mukercommunitypub@gmail.com or info@mukercbs.org or via the Contact page.