A Peterborough poet’s come up with a real ‘winter warmer’ to cheer up our pub landlords and the regulars missing a pint at their local.
ESP has been keen to spread the positives and keep people upbeat so we think this is a great idea.
Despite their pubs being currently closed, publicans across East Anglia are spreading some cheer to people in their local communities by sharing a heart-warming poem about pubs written and performed by a poet from Peterborough.
The poem which has been specially commissioned for pubs in East Anglia by arts project INN CROWD, has been written and performed by our very own poet Charley Genever from Peterborough.
Charley’s poem is part of a national campaign called ‘Winter Warmers’ that aims to help bring some cheer and hope to publicans, their staff and their local communities and to help connect people during the latest lockdown.
Publicans in Cambridgeshire are among pubs across East Anglia taking part in ‘Winter Warmers’ by sharing postcards featuring Charley’s poem with people in their local communities. They’re using the cards to help keep them connected with their locals by putting them in customers’ takeaway bags and food boxes or writing a cheery note on them to post through the doors of people who may be struggling.
Charley, who is a former Peterborough Poet Laureate and vice chair of the city’s Syntax Poetry Festival, has written a poem called ‘Down the Local’ for the campaign.
You can watch Charley perform her poem here: https://inncrowd.org.uk/2021/01/13/charley-genever-down-the-local/
The poem is part of a national collection of poems about pubs in the ‘Winter Warmers’ campaign, written by poets from six regions across England. If you’d like to enjoy the other poems about pubs in the collection just click here: https://inncrowd.org.uk/winter-warmers/
Charley, who’s co-run a poetry night for the past three years at The Stoneworks bar in Peterborough, said: “The ‘Winter Warmers’ campaign is a brilliant chance for me to give something back, particularly at a time like this. I think pubs are such creative spaces, and I love being a part of a project that is celebrating community and creativity.
“I wanted to capture some of the memories and feelings I always associate with being at my local and celebrate how pubs really do champion communities. I hope that other people will be inspired to think about their fond memories of being in a pub.”
The ‘Winter Warmers’ campaign has been created by Pub is The Hub, the independent not-for-profit organisation that offers specialist advice on the diversification of services at rural pubs and ways publicans can support their local communities, and INN CROWD, which works with pubs to provide them access to professional live literature, which is specially commissioned for pub audiences.
The ‘Winter Warmers’ campaign sees two industries, pubs and the arts, which are among the sectors most detrimentally impacted by the pandemic join forces in a positive collaboration.
INN CROWD’s Dawn Badland said: “These two sectors, which have been among the hardest hit in this pandemic, make an invaluable contribution to our society, and it is brilliant to be able to come together with Pub is The Hub to do something positive for the publicans and artists working in them.”
Photo: Poet Charley Genever from Peterborough.
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