Overview
- The singer Tony Hadley publicly urged people to buy community shares this week in support of The Rose & Thistle Reborn crowdfunding campaign.
- Organisers formed a Community Benefit Society called Haddenham Community Public House Limited to sell community shares priced at £1 each with a £100 minimum and a £100,000 maximum per investor.
- The campaign has raised just over £65,000 so far, about 10% of its £750,000 goal, while the Rose & Thistle remains for sale and at risk of conversion to residential use after closing in 2019.
- HCPH intends to buy the building and lease it to a professional pub landlord to reopen the 18th-century coaching inn in Haddenham’s conservation area opposite St Mary’s Church.
- Campaign support from CAMRA and Hadley’s 2024 backing of a nearby successful pub rescue that raised £549,494 underlines a path to wider backing and highlights community ownership as a tool to protect village social hubs from redevelopment.