Rallying call to Save the Silks pub in Ogbourne St Andrew

If successful the pub will become a major community hub, providing a warm and welcoming space to meet as well as a valuable lifeline to the community during what continues to be a challenging time for everyone.

The Silks, as it is known locally, has not opened its doors since the pandemic struck last March.

However, the owner has offered the community the opportunity to buy the pub, renovate it and run it for the benefit of the community.

The Community Share Offer is being launched by the Ogbourne Community Pub Society formed by a group of local volunteers, passionate about the role that a village pub can play in helping to create a thriving community as well as ensuring its future for generations to come.

Those who purchase community shares in the pub will also become members of the Society and will collectively help to steer how the pub is run for the benefit of all. 

This share issue, along with other sources of funding, will not only help secure the pub but also enable it to undergo a significant transformation, creating a vibrant and welcoming venue where friends and families from near and far can come together.

The aim is to also offer additional services to provide benefit to the community, particularly those addressing isolation and loneliness.

Under consideration are regular community lunches, a parcel pick up and drop off service and a community defibrillator. They envisage local clubs and societies will be able to book space for meetings and in the daytime we hope a café will create a social and workplace hub for locals and businesses. 

Championing the physical and mental wellbeing benefits of exploring the great outdoors will also be a focus, by positioning the pub as a ‘gateway’ to the spectacular surrounding in which it sits – the Marlborough Downs. 

Located in the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty the pub will actively highlight the many outdoor activities that are accessible from its doorstep including the Ridgeway National Trail and National Cycle Trail as well as network of walking, running and mountain biking routes via public footpaths and bridleways.

Stuart Williamson, chair of the Ogbourne Community Pub Society, said: “The Silks on the Downs is so much more than a pub. 

"It’s been bringing people from near and far together for well over 100 years and we’d like to keep it that way.  But we really can’t do this alone.  Having carefully evaluated the project with the support of the Plunkett Foundation we’re now in touching distance of creating something lasting and special for everyone to enjoy. 

"We are inviting as many people as possible to support our cause by buying shares and helping us to create a thriving community hub for the benefit of all.”

Danny Kruger, MP for Devizes Constituency said: “I passionately believe in the power of communities coming together to achieve things they could not do alone. 

"The campaign to save and buy the Silks on the Downs in Ogbourne St Andrew is a great example of this.  The Ogbourne Community Pub Society have done a fantastic job and they’re within reach of saving the pub and creating a community hub that will make a difference in so many ways. 

"I encourage anyone who can to get involved in any way they can and show their support.” 

For more information, members of the public are encouraged to read the Community Share Offer, which provides much more detail and is available at our website www.savethesilks.org. 

If members of the public have any questions or would like to discuss this further, then please contact info@savethesilks.org.