People power at the pub: Volunteers help Ickleton Lion roar once more
The Lionhearted group, working to bring the Ickleton Lion pub back to life, provide their latest monthly update.
The renovation of the Ickleton Lion is now in full swing. Ickleton resident Jo Hancock has been helping to coordinate the incredible efforts of a team of more than 70 volunteers and tradespeople working up a sweat to get the pub open once more.
The Ickleton Lion has been a hive of activity over the last few weeks. Every weekend, we’ve thrown open the pub doors (and the garden gate) to teams of amazing volunteers who are transforming the Lion – inside and out. And during the week, a committed team of volunteers and tradespeople have been getting the building in shape to welcome its first punters.
This month, we’ve hit some amazing milestones in the renovation. A team of roofers from Rulton & Johns were on site for a week getting the roof water-tight and Gareth of Home and Office Fire Extinguishers Ltd serviced the fire extinguishers. James from Bob Hopper came in on a Sunday to test all the fridges on-site.
The chimneys have been swept and the log burners cleaned up ready to create that warm and cosy pub atmosphere on a cool night.
Tim our volunteer electrician has been spending his weekends checking all our electrical circuits (so no more flickering signs or faulty plug sockets) and our volunteer Window Warriors have been working for weeks to repair the windows, cutting out lots of areas of rot, splicing in new pieces, replacing sash chords and sanding them down ready for painting.
A reason for major celebration – Aaron from Saffron Services got the heating and hot water going again. That meant the ‘big clean up’ could begin in earnest.
The kitchen was completely cleared thanks to Caterquip, which meant two brave volunteers could set to work on the kitchen, scrubbing off the grease baked-in from hundreds of Sunday dinners gone by. After a lot of hard work and a few pairs of Marigolds, the kitchen is now sparkling and ready for a refit in the weeks to come.
An equally brave duo of volunteers took on the unsavoury task of cleaning the loos, which definitely required a large serving of elbow grease with a side of bleach!
The interior design team has been busy sourcing tables and chairs and choosing colour schemes for the bar and restaurant. The manager’s flat above the pub is also being renovated. The search is now on for the first manager of the community-owned Lion – someone who could call the flat their home.
Outside, our garden team has been hard at work for several weeks and they are now enjoying the glow of the first sunny days of the year. They’ve stripped the ivy from the walls, dug out roots, tidied borders and restored the pétanque court to its former glory.
Our vision for the Lion is starting to take shape, but there’s still lots to do to get us over the finish line. Time is running out if we are going to reopen for the summer as planned, so we’re looking for many more volunteers to donate a day to help with cleaning, painting and decorating, DIY, sewing and garden work. Email us at ickletonlionhearted@gmail.com and we’ll add you to the volunteer rota. The more hands on deck now, the sooner we’ll all be enjoying a well-earned cold beer in the garden!
We held an open morning on Monday, 22 March so that people could take a sneak peek at the progress so far and see how they could help.
