Pub chef launches community environmental fund

Andy Link, chef patron at The Riverside Inn, Aymestrey, has launched a brand new fund for community environmental projects in 2023.

The project follows on from the success of last year’s fundraising efforts, gained from the voluntary contribution of an extra £1 to diners’ bills at the Herefordshire pub.

Link (pictured), who scooped the Pub Chef of the Year title at the 2022 National Pub & Bar Awards, is passionate about funding projects in his local community.

Leintwardine Primary School was a recent beneficiary, receiving £750 for the creation of a wildflower meadow at the school to benefit pollinators, birds and small mammals. The project will also help children learn about the natural world around them.

"We are happy to fund projects from £50 to £500, or even more in special cases," says Link. "We are keen to hear about local communty projects that benefit the environment and nature, as well as helping us all build a bridge with nature. The pandemic illustrated how much nature means to us all, yet in many cases simple words like conker and bluebell, familiar to earlier generations, are being lost from everyday vocabulary."

The pub team is now calling on locals to tell them about their community projects that are in need – from building nesting boxes and bat boxes, to meadow creation/restoration and pond creation. 

"Sadly, we have lost 97% of our beautiful wildflower meadows since the 1930s," says Link. "Our ponds, vital for flora and fauna, have suffered a dramatic decline in number and quality. We hope to play a small part in redressing the balance."

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