Dear Shareholders
It’s now been just over two months since Ben has taken over the tenancy of The White House, and perhaps a good time for an update on progress. Trading over the summer period has been encouraging, and it has been good to see that the Thursday coffee mornings and the Wednesday night quiz are still going strong. These have been joined by a number of new initiatives to help broaden the appeal of the pub, such as the introduction of a hearty brunch menu on Saturday mornings, and the pub being open for drinks on Monday and Tuesday evenings.
In addition to these, Ben is also keen to encourage more pub related games and activities during the week. The cribbage league has restarted on Monday evenings, and Robin Jones has organised a crib “taster” on the first Sunday afternoon of every month for people to try their hand at this fun card game. These sessions start at 4 pm and run for a couple of hours.
On the second and fourth Tuesday of every month The White House will be hosting an open games night. A selection of board and card games will be brought along each week to choose from – and if you have something you’d like to play then bring it along! Gaming is free, starts at 6.30pm and continues to closing time. It’s open to all – families and children are very welcome, just drop in and leave whenever suits you. The next few dates will be:-
Tuesday 27 September
Tuesday 11 October
Tuesday 25 October
Tuesday 8 November
Tuesday 22 November
Ben is also planning to put on more music events at The White House, and the next gig will be on Friday 30th September featuring Legends Rise, an excellent covers band that is making a return visit to the pub. The set is due to start at 8:30 pm, so if you are free why not kick off this weekend with some live music!
John Anson
Chair, Bladon Community Benefit Society
Author: Admin
Relaunch update & kitchen open
Dear Shareholders,
Just a quick update on progress following the relaunch of the White House under Ben Bullen’s stewardship. As planned, the first week or so has been taken up with work on the kitchen electrics and some other improvements to the facilities. Alongside this the pub has been open for drinks 6 days a week, only being closed on Monday. It has been good to see some familiar faces as well as visitors using the pub garden in the recent warm weather.
More good news – Ben wishes to make it known that from today (21st July) the kitchen will be open, and the pub will be serving food again. I have seen the menu and happily it does include some of the old favourites as well as some new dishes. I look forward to seeing some of you down there soon!
Best regards
John Anson Chair – Bladon Community Benefit Society
The White House is open!
Dear Shareholders,
After two days of hard graft by Ben Bullen and his team they are now ready to start service at the White House from this evening (Friday 8th July), and will be open over the weekend. For the first few days they will be serving drinks only, as there is still some work on going to get the kitchen back up and running. This includes some improvements we are having done early next week to the electrics into the kitchen.
Ben is planning to start food service later next week, so please keep an eye on postings on social media and notices outside the pub for further information. With the lovely weather forecast over the next few days, I hope to be able to see some of you enjoying the hospitality on offer as we welcome Ben and the rest of the White House team on their new venture.
Best regards,
John Anson Chair – Bladon Community Benefit Society
Tenancy update
Dear Shareholders,
In my previous message I informed you of the changes taking place with the tenancy of the White House, and I would now like to update you on what has been happening since then.
The committee has advertised the tenancy opportunity in a well-respected trade paper, and has received a number of enquiries. These are being followed up and are at various stages of progression.
As an interim measure Fran has been running the front of house, with Ben and Charlie continuing to provide excellent food from the kitchen. There have been some issues with getting enough staff to cover all the required shifts, which has meant that the pub has only traded from Wednesday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. These are the same issues that are being felt across the trade, and we appreciate everyone’s understanding during this period.
Everyone at the White House is busy gearing up for the Jubilee celebrations over the long Bank Holiday at the end of this week. We would love to see as many of you as possible at the pub, where they are putting on a number of events. Please see the pub Facebook page or the signs outside the pub for more details.
Best regards,
John Anson
Chair – Bladon Community Benefit Society
Tenant Advert
The advert for a new tenant has gone out to appropriate outlets
White House tenancy
Dear Shareholders,
I have recently taken over as Chair of the Bladon Community Pub Management Committee from Mike Edwards, who has stepped down as Chair due to work commitments, but remains active on the committee. As a recent retiree I do fortunately now have more time to commit to this important role, and I am very happy to do so.
In my first communication to you the shareholders, I have to inform you that our current tenant, Johnny Roberts, has handed in his formal resignation, and will be leaving once he has completed an agreed period of notice. We have started the work of identifying his successor, and I will update you on progress as we go through this process. We are also working closely with Johnny to ensure that the handover to his replacement will be as smooth as possible, and with minimal disruption to trade.
On behalf of the committee, I would like to thank Johnny for all his efforts, in often very challenging circumstances, to re-establish the pub as a community asset to the village, and wish him and his family well for the future.
Best regards,
John Anson
Chair, Bladon Community Benefit Society
Shareholder AGM 2022
Happy New Year to everyone.
I hope the title of a free drink for shareholders has got your attention!
It has been a busy year at The White House and we are now approaching the Annual General Meeting (AGM) for all pub shareholders as members of the Bladon Community Benefit Society. We will be holding our AGM on:
Tuesday 1st March 2022 at 7.30pm in The White House pub.
All shareholders will have a free drink waiting for them behind the bar so please do come on down. The AGM is for shareholders only so the pub will be closed to the general public during the meeting.
We will briefly outline the progress we have made over the last year and the plans for the future. The rules of our Society specify that we need 10% of our membership to be present in order to be quorate. That equates to 47 people so please do come along. Your first drink will be free but the bar will remain open to purchase drinks thereafter so I hope you stay after the formalities are over.
All 8 members of the committee have expressed an interest to remain in post. If any shareholder would like to join the committee, please email chair@bladoncommunitypub.org. Our Society rules dictate that we should have no more than 10 committee members. If this is exceeded we will take a vote at the AGM.
I look forward to seeing you on St David’s Day, 1st March, in our pub for a drink.
Cheers
December Update
With Christmas fast approaching we are all hoping that we can have something approaching a normal celebration and that the pub can be a big part of that for everyone.
It has been a challenging few months with the ongoing building works but we now have modern, top quality toilet facilities with disabled facilities and baby changing for the first time ever. It has brought our pub right up to date at last thanks to Blenheim Palace/Pye Homes and your backing.
We are waiting for 2 separate subcontractors to move the gas meter and move the cellar cooling fans before we can call the builders back from Pye Homes/Renelec to finish their work. They will then render the outside where the new cellar is at the front of the pub as well as the outside of the new toilet block and finish the outstanding list of jobs.
With our Masterchef Ben Bullen creating a stir with the food it became very clear the limited resources and space available to him and his team were not coping with the increase in demand. We have invested in a large cold room to enable him to expand his menu and cater for the increasing numbers who want to dine at our pub. The cold room is already being built at the rear of the pub near the snug bar. The slight loss of view from one of the snug windows will be made up by the expansion of our tiny kitchen capabilities. Any ideas of how we can dress up the cold room are gratefully accepted. The more fun the idea the better!
When we brought the proposal of a community pub to the village we asked what you wanted our community pub to be. We already have a successful quiz evening on a Wednesday, the Crib team on a Monday, coffee morning on a Thursday and live music once a month. Robin and Johnny are adding activities to that list and we took the decision to leaflet the whole village with present activities and future plans. Please bring more of your ideas to Johnny, or the committee, for groups and activities you want to see and can help bring together. The pub is already morphing through the day from community hub into a fantastic dining destination and then into being a fantastic local pub. Let’s work together to strengthen the pub as the heart of our community.
At the end of February/start of March, we will have the pub AGM. It is important we have as many people as possible attending. As a committee we have decided to entice you down by offering a free drink on arrival so I expect to see you all there (including you from far afield who can now fly/drive in to join us!). We will update you on those plans as 2022 approaches and get Johnny to stock up!
We have made big steps forward with the fabric of the building and the pub facilities. As a new year approaches we need the community to steer the future of the pub to become the heart of Bladon and to remember that phrase we keep returning to: Use it or lose it.
I look forward to seeing you all down there over the festive season and into the New Year.
Share your ideas
Would you like to see some community activities held at The White House Bladon during the day? Maybe a Whist drive, Bridge club, Bingo, a meet and a chat….??? Two of the committee, from the Bladon Community Benefit Society Committee will be in the pub on Wednesday 13th October from 2-3 pm to listen to you. Please come along and share your ideas or just come along and have a chat and let us know what you want from your community pub. We’d love to see you.
Oh and don’t forget that every Wednesday night is Quiz Night in The White House starting at 8pm with a chance to win a rolling jackpot every week. It’s a great quiz run by our very own local quiz master, Richard Conway. See you there!
Community clubs
The Committee representing the shareholders and the views of locals, expressed prior to the purchase of The White House, recognise it is little over a year since the community, acquired The White House and despite several lockdowns it is already becoming a focal point for many residents – long may it continue! The committee is now endeavouring to see if your wishes can be accommodated and our Tennant, Johnny, is totally committed to working with us to achieve a flourishing meeting hub.
To further increase the social ‘togetherness’ of the village a Cribbage (generally known as Crib) team has been organised and a team has been entered into the Witney Crib League with the option of members to enter individually or as pairs into various other Crib competitions. Anyone interested in joining the Crib group please contact Robin Jones either by ’phone 01993 811484 or e-mail: robin.jones8@me.com. The more people in the group the better and who knows, if there are sufficient players, we may be able to enter 2 teams next year!
To endeavour to foster further Community involvement an interest meeting will be held on Tuesday 5th October at 7.00pm at The White House to see if there is a group who could form The Bladon Community Rotary Club. Rotary is a worldwide non-political, non-religious organisation and is open to all genders in academia, profession or business however large or small, whether they be supervisors, managers, or directors; these categories depend upon the way different companies are structured. If this might be something which interests you, please come along to hear about Rotary.
To encourage those residents who would appreciate an Afternoon Activity an interest meeting will be held at The White House on Wednesday 13th October at 2.00pm to see in there is an interest in having a Whist Drive or something similar on regular basis in OUR PUB. Please come along and share your ideas.
I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible at the above Interest Meetings.