Edinburgh's The Waverley Inn shortlisted for PubAid community final

Edinburgh’s The Waverley Inn shortlisted for PubAid community final

The pub was nominated by MP for Edinburgh South, Ian Murray, in the Community Support Hero Category and has seen competition from almost 1000 other pubs nationwide.

This Community Support Hero Award recognises licensees who help their communities. It recognises pubs which are a ‘good neighbour’ to their local community.

Two other pubs, Greenhills Bar and The Red Lion Inn, in East Kilbride and Culross respectively have also been shortlisted.

The pub was shortlisted because, prior to being taken over, it had fallen on hard times and gained a bad reputation. Its new owners, Tracy and John, worked hard to turn the pub around. It is now a cornerstone of the community and regularly hosts fundraising events, such as raffles, discos, race nights and karaoke to help charities and the local community.

Ian Murray, local MP, said: “I am thrilled that John, Tracy and all of their staff have been nominated for a Community Pub Hero Award. They have done a phenomenal job of refurbishing the pub and their support for the local community is much admired by local residents.

“Over the last year, John and Tracy have held charity fundraisers for so many different causes and their Christmas Fayre helped many local businesses show off their produce. Several residents nominated them for my own Community Hero Award last year and the impact that they have on the local area cannot be understated. I am so proud to have them in Edinburgh South.”

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony, sponsored by Matthew Clark, at the Houses of Parliament on March 5 and all shortlisted pubs are invited to attend along with industry leaders and MPs.

Des O’Flanagan, co-founder of PubAid, added: “We launched these awards to celebrate the great work that pubs do for their community. The Waverley Inn is a perfect example of how pubs support and are a hub for many people in their community.

“The awards are in their fifth year and the volume of entries this year was staggering. What clearly came across from reading all the entries is that there are so many publicans that are doing amazing work nationwide. It was very hard to get to a shortlist so even getting to the finals is an amazing accolade for The Waverley Inn.”

PubAid, which organises the awards in association with Matthew Clark and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, has refreshed the awards and created more categories to congratulate more community pubs throughout the UK.

There are 33 finalists in total across five categories.