The Ship Inn was once a pub with a great reputation for good food and a friendly atmosphere, nestling on the edge of the Broads National Park and the last remaining pub in the village. Sadly, it has been closed for over 4 years.

However, impetus to purchase the building and re-open the pub as a community enterprise is building. Support for the campaign appears to be very strong and growing by the day.

Several key milestones have been achieved. The small voluntary group has become formally incorporated as Save the Ship Inn (South Walsham) Community Benefit Society Ltd, putting the project on a more professional footing, and setting the scene for a wider membership amongst the local community, as well as offering the opportunity to invest in the project.

After a public meeting in late September 2023 attended by over 100 people, initial pledges to invest quickly reached well over £100K. This is a great start to reaching the £150-200K investor funding target. Grants and loans are intended to cover the remainder of the estimated £550K thought to be needed to purchase the pub building, refurbish and re-open it in 2024.

The Ship has been designated an Asset of Community Value ACV) by Broadland District Council. This placed a 6-month moratorium on the current owners selling the pub to anyone other than a community group and reinforces the role of the pub in the community.

As well as preparing for a public share offering, the Save the Ship Inn campaign is making a £250K grant application to the Government’s Community Ownership Fund. With support and mentoring from the Plunkett Foundation, work on the application is well underway.

Get On Board the Save the Ship Inn Campaign

We know times are difficult, but the campaign offers real hope of saving the Ship Inn and making it into a real community asset for the benefit of all in South Walsham and the surrounding area. Plans for making the Pub a real village hub are enshrined in the proposals for re-opening. If you want to know more or are interested in the upcoming share offering email us at: savetheswship@gmail.com or find us on Facebook. 

Download documents here:

• Incorporation document
• CBS rules
• Business Plan (coming soon)
• Share Offer document (coming soon)