The Pub Saving Awards 2025 title has been bestowed on rescuers the Hull Community Pub Society
The New Clarence, Charles Street, Hull’s first community-owned pub(Image: CAMRA)
Hull’s first community-owned pub has been honoured with an award from CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale. CAMRA has named the Hull Community Pub Society, which saved The New Clarence in Hull, as winner of its Pub Saving Awards 2025 – the first city pub to do so.
The Pub Saving Awards celebrate communities that have rallied together to fight for their local, saving them from conversion or even demolition. The awards put these campaigns in the spotlight, inspiring others to investigate community ownership for their local.
CAMRA said: “The New Clarence is Hull’s first community-owned pub and is the first city pub to win CAMRA’s Pub Saving Awards. The high land value of high streets and city centres makes pubs an enticing target for developers, and as a result, much harder for campaigners to save than their rural counterparts.
“The judges were incredibly impressed with the group’s achievement of saving The New Clarence. After closing in 2023, developers submitted planning applications to convert The New Clarence to a house in multiple occupation (HMO).
“The Hull Community Pub Society was formed, fighting off the applications and subsequent appeals. They then raised almost £250,000 plus a £300,000 backing from the now discontinued Community Ownership Fund to buy the pub in February 2025. The New Clarence reopened its doors to its community on September 6, 2025.”
Simon Berry, chairman of Hull Community Pub Society, said on receiving news of the award: “We were blown away by it.
“It’s fantastic, to be honest. It’s nice to be recognised for all the hard work the committee put in and for the members who bought shares to keep it.
“At the end of the day, we haven’t done this to get an award. It’s something we did because the community wanted it.”
Simon said things at The New Clarence were “going well” since it reopened, with plenty of people popping in to sample what the pub has to offer, including its Sunday lunches. “Hopefully, we’ll grow from there and things will start happening – we’re now looking at developing upstairs; the next step of work will be to get the function room and lift up and running.”
The Pub Saving Awards runners-up were Ashton Hayes Community Hub Ltd, who rescued the Golden Lion in Ashton Hayes, Chester, from being turned into private housing, and the George Community Pub (Wickham Market) Limited, who campaigned for the George in Wickham Market, Suffolk, a 500-year-old pub which was devastated by a fire in 2013. CAMRA also announced its Heritage Award winner, the Vine in Pittshill, Stoke-on-Trent, and runner-up, the Crown Inn, in Stockport.
Paul Ainsworth, Pub Saving Awards co-ordinator, said: “These community champions and heritage heroes deserve to be applauded. I continue to be amazed by the dedication and grit of these campaigners, who spend years or even decades campaigning to save pubs.
“However, if we want more communities to be able to do this, they need support from Government. The Community Ownership Fund provided cash for groups to take ownership and the running of community facilities that would otherwise be sold, converted or demolished.
“This was wound up by the Government and has not been directly replaced. The forthcoming Right to Buy scheme must come alongside a dedicated programme of advice, guidance and funding to make sure community pubs go from strength to strength.”
The pubs will be presented with their awards at events organised by local CAMRA branches.