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Volunteers work to raise £300k to buy and run pub

Cameron Weldon,South Westand
Tamsin Melville,in Ponsanooth
News imageBBC Sam Fitch is smiling at the camera as he stands in front of the pub's entrance with a welcome sign and a Save our Stag sign behind him. He has brown short hair and a beard and moustache and is wearing an orange, white and black checked shirt.BBC
Sam Fitch said about £125,000 had already been raised for the bid to buy the pub

A group of volunteers is hoping to raise at least a further £300,000 to buy a village pub for its community.

The Ponsanooth Community Benefit Society has taken over The Stag Hunt pub in the Cornish village throughout April, to show how a community‑owned pub would look in practice.

The group launched a community share offer in 2025 which gave people the chance to invest between £100 and £40,000 to become a part-owner in the pub as it looked to raise the £490,000 asking price.

Society chairman Sam Fitch said the response had been "incredible" and since the takeover the pub had received "a significant uplift in support" with about £125,000 given by more than 100 community investors.

News imageThe exterior of the pub. It is a granite building with green painted window frames and door frame. There is a sign above the entrance which reads The Stag Hunt at Ponsanooth. Above the doorway is a sign which reads ENTRANCE and to the left a branded sign reads GOOD FOOD, BED AND BREAKFAST and A WARM WELCOME. In front of the entrance is a sign which reads SAVE THE STAG.
Sam Fitch said support for the pub had come from as far afield as Australia

Fitch said: "The majority of its [the support] come from within the village, but we've had investors from America, from Australia, from Germany.

"There's a lot of people all around the world with Cornish history and this is a slice of Cornish heritage that they can help rescue."

The group said it had trained people in licence compliance, cellar management and bar work.

It said the pub had hosted the village book club, a police drop‑in, games afternoons, bingo, poker nights and live music, as well as the reintroduction of food to the menu.

News imageSarah Treen is smiling as she stands outside the pub. She has shoulder length brown curly hair and is wearing a black cardigan over a black, pink and white printed top. Behind her are parked cars and houses.
Sarah Treen said support for the pub had been "phenomenal"

Fitch said: "Old regulars and new faces are back in the pub, and it already feels once again like the heart of a thriving village."

Sarah Treen, a member of the Save the Stag group, said: "It's been brilliant to see people from the village using the pub and people from outside the village coming in.

"The support has been phenomenal and it shows this is why we're doing this because it's not just us who want the pub, everybody is showing that they do too."

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