Creative Lives is partnering with Pub is The Hub and the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) to launch a national Pubs Welcoming Creativity campaign.
The campaign will see publicans across England opening their doors to regularly host a variety of creative activities run by local groups. These can be anything from knitting circles to ukulele groups or poetry corners.
Lots of creative activities already happen in pubs, as a boost for quieter nights and as a way to bring in new customers. Many volunteer-led creative groups lost their regular meeting spaces during the pandemic, and will be looking for a warm space to gather, have a drink together, and practise their craft as the evenings start to get darker.
To kick-start the campaign, Creative Lives has produced a Welcoming Creativity Toolkit for Publicans. Pubs across England are invited to self-certify as a ‘creativity-friendly venue’. The first 100 pubs to register will receive a free Welcoming Creativity pack in the post.
The pack contains a ‘We welcome creativity here!’ window poster, and a ‘creativity-friendly venue’ badge for front doors and behind-the-bar. These visual aids are designed to encourage groups to start up conversations about hosting their creative activity at their local pub. The posters are customisable with contact details, opening times, or other useful information.
The free online and downloadable toolkit for publicans also includes five inspirational case studies of pubs across England already welcoming creative activity. In addition, the toolkit contains a curated selection of some of the free downloadable Creative Lives briefings, such as risk assessment: event management, and how to write a press release. The are also ready-made text and pictures to use on social media.
CAMRA chair, Nik Antona, said: “It is fantastic to see these initiatives to encourage pub-going during what could otherwise be quieter nights in our pubs. As natural hubs to their local communities, pubs are the obvious venue for creative groups.
“This is an incredibly difficult period for pubs which are facing a double-whammy of a cost-of-living and cost-of-goods crisis, so we’d like to encourage pubs to use this toolkit to tap into new customers. There’s plenty of ways to get involved, connect with your local community, and support our locals, whether that’s in a local knitting circle or at a CAMRA social!”
John Longden, chief executive of Pub is The Hub, added: “Many pubs are already well set up with spaces for welcoming creative groups to host their activities. These groups are often in desperate need of a warm and welcoming environment in which to get together, and meeting in a pub offers an ideal solution.
“We are proud to see a growing number of publicans and managers at pubs that Pub is The Hub has supported with projects to diversify their services, helping to host creative activities such as craft groups meeting in a community café or activities being hosted at a pub’s craft cabin.”
• Pub licensees can click here to self-certify as a creativity-friendly venue and receive the Welcoming Creativity pack in the post, available for free to the first 100 pubs to register. The Welcoming Creativity Toolkit can be accessed here. For more details about the project, email natanya@creative-lives.org.
