Generous staff at a pub in Wales will charge just 50p for meals for struggling families to “give something back to a community which has done so much for us”. Landlord at the Ivor Hael Hotel in Llwnypia, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Chris Jones, said he decided to roll out the scheme after hearing heartbreaking stories from regular punters who were struggling to pay their utility bills and see their friends at the local.
Chris said the pub, which he admitted is just about breaking even and is having to fork out more than ever for their own bills, “has always been community before profit”. “Over the last ten years we’ve always done community stuff,” the 32-year-old who has lived in the area all his life explained.
Read more: Pub to charge 50p for meals for struggling families to ‘give something back’
“Every Christmas we do 500 or 600 lunches for people struggling," Chris said. "We always try to give back where we can."
“We are managing to get back to normal now after Covid and we can pay staff wages and keep the lights on, so we’re in a position where we can help people in the area. Last week one of the regulars came into the pub and they began explaining to one of the staff how they were really struggling.
“We gave them some free food and began talking about it. More and more people have come in saying similar things. We could never commit to doing it for free but we knew we wanted to do something that could make a difference.”
On social media this week Chris posted about the scheme, explaining that they would serve spaghetti bolognese, bangers and mash, shepherd's pie, sausage casserole and chicken curry from 50p to 80p for those with a voucher from the local food bank. He said they would be served frozen for people to take home with them. The post was shared more than 2,000 times.
“It was the least we could do,” Chris said. “I saw something the other day about a friend’s electricity bill going from £90 a month to £300. I see it on Facebook all the time.
“I know one woman who is literally selling her clothes to pay for her kids to eat. It’s crazy.
“We shouldn’t forget that we couldn’t do this unless we were busy too. The fact that our customers have always supported us and we’re busy makes it possible for us to do things like this.”
Pub manager Rob James, who has worked at the Ivor for eight years, said: “I think it’s a brilliant initiative. The community here has done so much for us during Covid to support us and get us through it.
“We had a government grant of course but it was a drop in the ocean really. If it wasn’t for the support of the locals we might not be here anymore, so we wanted to give something back to a community which has done so much for us.”
Rob, also “born and bred” in the area, described Llwnypia as “an extremely tight-knit community where people are committed to looking out for each other”. “It’s heartbreaking to see people who were coming here two or three times a week only now being able to come once a fortnight,” he said.
“People are so worried about it here. It’s what people are constantly talking about. Some are addicted to the budgeting apps and seem to always be looking at how much they’re spending. I think we knew we had to do something.”
