Community volunteers showed they are no fools as they opened their share offer for a Pembrokeshire pub on Saturday, 1 April.

Following another successful public meeting on 20 March, Crymych Football Club launched the community share offer to buy the Crymych Arms pub with an information open day.

The football club hopes to coordinate a community purchase of the historic pub in the heart of the village which has been closed since the pandemic.

The club would then reopen it as a traditional food and drink pub while also being a new base for the football club.

The pub has historic and cultural significance, it was thought to be the site of the first building in Crymych. The Crymych Arms name first appears on the 1861 census although a building is shown on the 1812 enclosure map.

A casualty of the coronavirus lockdowns, its presence in the village is sorely missed, “Many residents miss the opportunity to eat, drink and socialise at the Crymych Arms,” said a Crymych FC spokesperson.

There was an opportunity to pick up a share offer prospectus documents and learn about the plans to offer an annual 3 per cent dividend/interest to investors.

The main committee of the football club and the purchasing sub-committee have been working hard to ensure the new FCA cooperative will have achieved its aim of raising a minimum of £175,000 with a minimum share purchase of £100.

Potential investors are recommended to buy their shares before April 5 in order to be in with a chance of claiming called Social Investment Tax Relief (SITR) which will be scrapped on April 6.

Cris Tomos from Planed, who is helping co-ordinate the share offer explained: "The scraping of SITR on April 6 is disappointing, as qualifying investors would have had 30 per cent of their investment returned as a tax relief.

“We have spoken to industry advisors and there is a very short window for applying for the scheme. Anyone wishing to participate will need to deposit their shares for buying the Crymych Arms in our bank account before the April 5."

Cris said that the club and Planed would be working hard to try and support investors who have deposited April 5 gain the 30 per cent tax relief on their investments.

“We will have to await responses by HMRC, therefore it is not at all guaranteed," he said.

To view the share prospectus see the link above or email finance@cpdcrymych.