News
-
Pledge update – including new online form
AMAZING NEWS! 🥳🎉🥂
ONLINE PLEDGE FORM!!!
It’s finally here! The online pledge form has arrived! 🤩 its so easy to use – from the comfort of your own home – just click on the link below and fill in your details – EASY! You can place your pledge in minutes!
Any questions? Please message or email us 😁
PLEDGE TOTAL!!!
Our pledge total is now
💥💥💥£81,500!💥💥💥
We also have another £1,000 in Go Fund Me and event donations!
Please keep pledging, liking and sharing!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-railway-inn-community-pub-norton-bridge-fundraiser
MAILING LIST
We have been very busy fundraising, but we will be sending out the next edition of our newsletter very soon – so keep your eyes peeled ! 👀
Are you on our mailing list? If you have submitted vour email address but don’t receive the email, please check your spam folder. If you still haven’t got it then PLEASE message us! 😁
If you haven’t subscribed to our mailing list yet, and you want to join this select group of people 😁 you can do so by filling in your details at the bottom of the website homepage or messaging us on here!
-
Pledge campaign update
We’ve had a great start to the pledge campaign! We’ve now reached £69,750!!! 😍 It’s really important we keep the pledges rolling in – so let’s keep the momentum going!
If you didn’t make it to the pledge meeting, don’t worry, 😁 – if you are in the Parish, you will get a pledge form through your door in the next few days. If you are outside the Parish or would rather fill a form in online, please click here.
If you need any help with your forms – then please facebook message us, email us at contact@railwayinn.org or ask a Committee member. Please remember, every penny counts! If you can’t afford to buy a share on your own – you can buy one as a group with friends or relatives.
If you would rather donate than buy a share, you can do so on our Go Fund Me page – https://www.gofundme.com/f/the-railway-inn-community-pub-norton-bridge-fundraiser
Please help us to get to our goal and buy the Railway Inn for generations to come. This will be such an important social and community space for the Parish. ❤️ We will be doing weekly updates and facebook reels with further updates – keep your eyes peeled!
If you are able to pledge, you can make an online pledge here.
-
Pledge Forms Now Available
Below are our pledge form and FAQs. If you have any queries please contact us through Facebook or by email contact@railwayinn.org
We will be holding an open meeting on WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14TH AT 7.00PM at ST. LUKE’S HALL, NORTON BRIDGE, ST15 0PD to update everyone on our progress so far and the next steps.You can pledge online here.
-
Open Progress Meeting – 14th January 2026
The Railway Inn Community Pub Limited is holding a second open meeting to update on progress to date.
We are also launching our pledge campaign to assess support in raising the finance needed to buy the pub.
Come along and find out more!WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14TH AT 7.00PM
ST. LUKE’S HALL,
NORTON BRIDGE, ST15 0PD -
Steering Group Meeting Minutes – 02/12/2025
Transparency is at the heart of our mission to return The Railway Inn to its rightful place as the centre of Norton Bridge. Our Steering Group recently met on 2nd December 2025 to discuss our ongoing progress in securing the pub’s future. We invite all community members, supporters, and potential volunteers to read the full minutes of this meeting now available on our website. Staying informed is the best way to see how we are working together to bring back this essential community resource.
-
Help us fund the next step!
We need you, our local community, to help us move onto our next step!
Raising £2,500 will allow us to cover our start-up costs to get the project off the ground. Your donations will help us to:
- Complete a red book valuation on the pub, making sure the price of the property is a true reflection of its value
- Sign up for membership of the Plunkett Foundation, who will be able to provide us with expert advice throughout the process of setting up and then running a successful community pub (for more information on what Plunkett will offer us click here
- Register as a Community Benefit Society, the preferred legal structure for community initiatives recommended by the Plunkett Foundation
Once we have achieved the above fundraising target and booked a valuation, we will be ready to present pledge / share offer details.
Please click here to be directed to our go fund me account. Every donation is appreciated.
Please note, if for any reason this project fails, then any money that has not been spent on the above costs, will be refunded back to the donors. This will be shared proportionately amongst the donors (based on their original donation amount, minus a percentage of what has already been spent.) Donations received at this stage of the project will be towards the initial costs only, and will not be classed as investments /shares. If we raise more than £2,500 initially, any remaining funds (after the above expenditure) will be transferred to the main fundraiser as a donation.
-
Survey Results
We had a brilliant response to our community survey and the best way we can think of thanking everyone is to do our best to see our pub reopened.
Who responded?
We had 76 responses to our survey.
As you can see, it is not just people who live in the village who want to see the pub reopened and help us in the journey!
How would the pub be used?
We asked who would use the pub for drinking and bar snacks, and 63% said at least once a week!
Dining in the pub also seemed popular, 60% of people said they’d come at lease once a month to a have a meal with us.
Helping us
The number of offers of help speak for themselves, we are so grateful to the community for this strong show of support.
What else the pub can offer
This graph shows some of the additional services the local community would like to see the pub offer, as you can see a social area was high on the list, again proving what a great asset to the community the pub could be.
-
Progress Update – 25/10/2025
News Update: 25 October 2025 – Project Gathers Momentum!
Following a packed initial meeting on 15th September 2025, The Railway Inn Norton Bridge Steering Group is thrilled to report a fantastic surge of local support. The meeting at St Luke’s saw 31 attendees , with a unanimous agreement to move forward with the plan to buy The Railway Inn and run it for the community.
We were delighted that so many people indicated they have skills, experience, or time they are willing to give to the project.
Our Vision for The Railway Inn
We are working to create more than just a traditional pub; our vision is for a community hub. This new hub will be:
- Welcoming to all.
- Supportive of local businesses and the local community.
- A place that makes the most of our area’s unique railway history and the local link with Izaak Walton.
Steering Group Members
A dedicated steering group has been formed to drive the project forward. The members are:
- Sue Wardle (Chair)
- Andy Burdon
- Sylvia Burdon
- Ian Willshaw
- Ian Bradford
- David Wills
- Fran Drinkall
- Marg Ainsworth-Hickman
- Rachael Drinkall
- Holly Douglas
- Kris Douglas
The group has already met three times (23rd September, 30th September, and 21st October) to establish our next steps.
Progress and Key Steps
We have already made significant progress:
- Contact with Vendor: We have made contact with the vendor, via Louis Taylor estate agent, to formally inform him that we are working towards a community purchase.
- MP Support: We have contacted Leigh Ingham, MP for Stafford, Eccleshall, and the villages, to outline what we are doing and seek her support.
- Expert Support: We have registered with Plunkett UK , a national charity that supports people in rural areas to set up and run businesses in community ownership. They are willing to support us through this process.
- Promotional Leaflet: A leaflet has been produced and is available to download from the website.
HAVE YOUR SAY – Community Consultation is Live!
Community support is essential for this project to succeed. We have developed a community questionnaire, and your feedback is vital. The findings will directly inform the project’s future direction and demonstrate the strength of our community support.
How to complete the questionnaire:
- Online: The questionnaire is available on our website: https://railwayinn.org/
- Paper Copies: Paper copies have been distributed to households. You can return your completed paper copy to one of the two special posting boxes in the village:
- One box is located by the pub.
- The other is by the village notice board at the entrance to St Luke’s Close.
Please fill in and return your questionnaire as soon as possible.
What’s Next?
October is focused on this crucial community consultation. Following this, we will move into the fundraising phase in November and December.
Thank you to everyone who has supported us so far. Together, we can make this project a reality!
