The Bowgie Inn wins a Great British Pub Award 2020!

The COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on the pub industry, but that hasn’t stopped The Bowgie Inn from making their mark this year. They were shortlisted in two categories, winning the ‘Staff Welfare’ category at The Great British Pub Awards.

The focus of the awards was around selflessness and community spirit, celebrating pub heroes who have supported their communities throughout the pandemic. When the lockdown first began, it became The Bowgie Inn's mission to be a beacon of positivity and do all they could to support people during such challenging times. At a time when they were forced to close, they wanted to continue their position as a pub that’s at the heart of the community, even though they couldn’t welcome customers on site.

This year’s Great British Pub Awards celebrated establishments that have adapted their businesses to come out the other side of the pandemic as community champions. The Bowgie Inn won the ‘Staff Welfare’ category, and also shortlisted in ‘Community Mindfulness’.

Since the start of the lockdown, Bowgie Owner Sally worked relentlessly to give back to the community, with various activities designed to help people when they needed it most including hosting virtual live music gigs for charity, streaming daily live videos from the beach and setting up new initiatives to support the furloughed team.

In addition to daily live streams, they hosted free weekly live yoga sessions for the public, donated food items to the local community and supported furloughed staff in a variety of ways to ensure their health and wellbeing.

"Socialising is a huge aspect of life at The Bowgie so we did everything we could to recreate our culture online during the lockdown for the public and our team. It was all about being there, keeping morale and energy levels high and staying in touch during such an unpredictable time!"

It’s difficult to put into words how challenging this year has been for the pub and hospitality industries. There is a very long road ahead, but The Bowgie Inn is determined to stay positive and keep at the heart of its community; long live the local!