Here we are again, the 2nd edition of my General manager Blog. Where I tell you all things The Swan coming up over the next 2 weeks and beyond. What a fab 2 weeks we’ve had eh? Christmas in July… Our 7th Birthday… Disappointing football results… Happier rugby and loads more. Check out the link HERE to see what we have all been up to.
What’s coming up in the next two weeks then?
It’s time to all come back together and have a chat about your favourite community pub. On Monday 27th July at 7pm, everyone is welcome to join us in the Coach House for our quarterly Open Forum. I wont be able to make Monday due to family commitments however, this is the perfect way to throw our new Bar Manager, Steph, in at the deep end! Steph and your Community Director Stuart will steer the meeting and fill you in on upcoming events, staffing changes and structure, Merch sales and then most importantly… your part. The floor is yours to give us your ideas and feedback. As its a community open forum, we would like a member of our community to take the minutes… any volunteers?! Let me know if you would like to!
Calling all golf fans, Its almost time for our Annual Golf Tournament – Date of play is August 11th but Peter needs to know by Monday 27th July if you would like to join, only 5 spaces remain so get in there quick. Its always great fun and completely organised by our volunteers, so, if your are interested in The Swan Golf Day on Tuesday 11th August at Royal Ascot golf course, email Peter at peter.clifford@theswanwindsor.co.uk. Tee off is 1pm and £60 to enter but prizes to win all day and a post golf meal.
Who’s up for a little music? Sunday 2nd August we are supporting Thames Hospice with a Charity Support Music Fest. Live musicians all day from 2pm – 10pm. Any spare change you have all goes a long way to help Thames Hospice. They are a completely charity lead operation and survive on your donations. I have personal connections with them and think they’re all blooming wonderful so please come down and listen to some awesome local talent. Have you been on the Thames Hospice Trunks across the Thames walk yet? Its amazing! Elephants everywhere, and The Swan has 2 Elephants by 2 amazing causes! Windsor Town Funrunners and the Green Room College have both made awesome elephants for the trail, Colin and Trunk Norris can be found on the trail app.
Wednesday 29th July we welcome back Gamini from Jackfruit Cuisine with his OUTSTANDING Sri Lankan food Menu. Serving from 5.30pm – 9pm its always a popular evening so if you would like to get in there quick, book your table today here
We welcome back our Charity Coffee Morning on Friday 31st. Open from 10.30am, we will be serving up DELICIOUS hand baked Cakes and a hot drink of your choice for £5, all money raised goes to the charity of the month. Please do join us… it a lovely morning.
Alongside all of this, we have our regular groups, clubs and events too. We have over 22 community groups at The Swan, Something for everyone so lets get into what’s coming up shall we!
Every Monday – Chess Club at 7pm. All skill sets welcome. Will is an excellent teacher, if not a little competitive so he will keep you on your toes!
Game Masters Of Windsor – Warhammer Every Tuesday at 7.30pm. All welcome. Find GameMastersOfWindsor on instagram
Windsor Ukulele Band Rehearsal – Every Tuesday at 7pm. Our resident house band meet every week to touch up the ukes. In the good weather, chances are high that we will get a live performance as the rehearse out in the cowshed. Grab a wine and listen in.
WTF – Windsor Town Funrunners (I need to be careful abbreviating that eh!?) – Every Wednesday at 6.45pm for a 5k or 10k run. A well deserved pint after the run is needed!
Chatty Cafe – Every Friday 12noon – 1.30pm – Fancy a coffee and a chat? How about a Pint with some people? What ever you fancy, chatty cafe is a safe, friendly and welcoming space for everyone. Trudy and Mirella host the table so keep an eye out for them or pop your chair next to somebody else for a chat. Its that simple and wonderful!
Swanfest is coming…….
Not long now. We are almost at the highlight of the year. Swanfest is a 3 day Family fun, Live music and beer festival. Starting 14th August through to Sunday 16th, we have 6 live bands and musicians, kids crafts, face painting, Storm world record breaking attempts (IYKYK!), Exceptional Pizza by the Green Room College and outstanding Beer from across the country. I will be putting out more information over the coming days but it certainly is not a weekend to miss. Get it in your diaries now… Especially if you want to Dunk a Director in our dunk tank…… Look back at previous Swanfest’s here
In other news…
Andy Burnham is in power and it ‘seems’ the pub sector is being listened too! A 20% business rate reduction has been applied from April, that’s a good start. Now lets drive the Vats The Problem campaign home. 40p of every £ we take over the bar goes straight to the government. 10% is fair for hospitality and we’re calling out for it. Please sign the petition and share far and wide. 263,000 people have signed! That’s a lot of voices! I was on BBC Radio Berkshire on Thursday morning at around 10.20am talking about exactly this with another publican, Shaun, from Slough. If you can, have a listen. Its real life examples of how we need it in the pub industry.
And that’s it for another 2 weeks. Thanks for getting this far, We are still awaiting our mystery visit and judging from the Great British Pub Awards… Might it be over the next 2 weeks they visit? Stay tuned to find out!!
As always, I am always available for a chat, ideas or feedback. Drop me a line at anytime (that kind of rhymed…)
To finish… What did the bartender say after Charles Dickens ordered a Martini? Olive or Twist!!
See you around the pub
Micky xx
