…..but charities and grassroots sports could lose up to £35million in lockdown

The nation’s 12-week lockdown could cost charities and grassroots sports an estimated £35 million in funds raised by pubs, according to PubAid, the group dedicated to promoting pubs as a force for good in their communities.

However, hundreds of pubs, who have seen a drastic fall in trade since the Covid-19 outbreak, are actively increasing support for their communities, helping local residents who are unable to leave their homes.  Many have adapted their menus to takeaway or delivery, with a number providing free meals to local pensioners, others setting up village shops to serve those unable to travel, and generally acting as a hub to co-ordinate community efforts to support vulnerable residents.

Just as importantly, many are looking for ways to offer local people some of the social and emotional benefits they gain from a visit to the pub. A number have set up helplines to offer local housebound people a much-needed social interaction, others have organised on-line pub quizzes.

PubAid co-founder Des O’Flanagan said: “Clearly, traditional fundraising through events in pubs will have to stop in line with Government advice to avoid social contact. With pubs raising £100m a year for charities and £40m to grassroots sports, a three-month lockdown will equate to a £35 million shortfall.

“Despite the catastrophic consequences of the pandemic for pubs, many have responded by doing all they can to support customers and local residents and remain a hub for their community in this time of need.  Pubs have survived for hundreds of years by adapting to the changing world around them, and the speed with which so many have changed their business practices in the face of the Covid-19 lockdown is impressive.

If you are, or know of a pub that’s adapting during this crisis then useyourlocal want to we want to offer you the use of our platform to promote whatever you’re doing for free. Check out our previous Blog post – We want to help – wherever we can – to find out how to get your news item onto our site.

The industry we love is facing a challenge like never before. The need for everyone to work together and support each other has never been greater. There are no quick fixes. No single route out. Our collective survival will likely take the form of the hundreds of small things that we can all do to help.

For our part, we want to make it as easy as possible for pubs & bars to let the UK’s pub loving consumers know what’s happening in and around the pubs they love. From launching takeaway services to supporting the most vulnerable members of their communities. At times like this, communication is key. Our platform gets around 5-6 million pubs loving visitors every year, and we want to make sure that pubs can reach them at this critical time.

So, if you’re a pub a doing anything to help your community, we want to offer you the use of our platform to promote whatever you’re doing for free.

All you need to do is….

1. Go to your outlet’s page on our site
2. Follow the yellow link that says “VIP”
3. Use the code – welovepubs
4. Add whatever news and photos you like.

This will then be published on our platform and will also be sent out automatically via our push notification service to all our members following your pub.

We know it won’t solve everything, but we do hope it helps, even a little.

https://www.useyourlocal.com/contact-us/

Many think that the reason for the number 13’s bad luck comes from the Bible.

Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is thought to have been the 13th guest to sit down to the Last Supper.

Even today, it’s considered unlucky to have 13 people sitting at a dinner table, and some people pop a teddy bear in a seat to make the number of guests up to 14!

In Norse mythology, a dinner party of the gods was ruined by the 13th guest called Loki, who caused the world to be plunged into darkness.

It seems the superstition has stuck.

Some hotels will have no room 13, while a lot of tall buildings ‘don’t have’ a 13th floor, jumping straight from 12 to 14.

Some airlines also refuse to have a row 13 in their planes too.

For hundreds of years, Friday has been considered the unluckiest day of the week. In Geoffrey Chaucer’s famous Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th Century, he says “and on a Friday fell all this mischance”.

In Britain, Friday was once known as Hangman’s Day because it was usually when people who had been condemned to death would be hanged.

But Good Friday – the day of Jesus Christ’s crucifixion – is thought to be the only Friday that bucks the trend, hence its name.

If you’re born on Good Friday you’re thought to be lucky, while sailors, who are notoriously superstitious, would sometimes begin a long voyage on Good Friday because of its holy connections.

The combination of Friday and the number 13 as a day of particularly bad luck seems to be a relatively recent tradition – perhaps only about 100 years old.

There’s even a special word for the fear of Friday 13th – paraskevidekatriaphobia. We’ve got a fear of trying to pronounce that word…!

But don’t be afraid to to go to the pub… a bit of friendly banter will put you at ease, just avoid the ladders and black cats on the way. Try our list of aptly named pubs and raise to a glass to a great superstition.