Meet the Bar Staff
The bar staff team are very experienced at running a busy and diverse pub. They have had quite a few interviews to pass to b offered the job. The team are employed by the Community Interest Company and will focus solely on The Swan.
Please meet the guys ...
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Matt Baker
Pub General Manager
Growing up in High Wycombe I went to school in Holmer Green. I went on to study business at Henley college and then sports sciences at Amersham and Wycombe. As a student looking for a part time job I ended up at Legoland Windsor and I quickly fell in love with the hospitality industry. After spending 5 years playing with Lego, I moved on to manage branded restaurants. Since then, I've worked in various locations for some fantastic brands in the hospitality and catering sector. 17 years on I have found myself back in Windsor, working for Windsor and Eton Brewery. Now a proud father of 4, and married to a wonderful and supportive wife, I'm very much looking forward to this new venture and working along side the community and all involved at the Swan.
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Connor Lindop
Bartender
I have worked at the Royal Windsor Racecourse for over 3 years, in which I have learned so much about working behind a bar in a very busy environment. I have been responsible for running bars there since summer of 2018, and I have gained so many skills and accomplished much more than I thought I would have by the age of 21! I believe that working here at The Swan will help me progress my skills and engagement with new customers and new people. I look forward to seeing what we can achieve here!
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Michael Howard
Barmeister
I have just finished Maths, Biology and chemistry A-Levels at The Windsor Boys School. I’m currently on a gap year before hopefully going to university to do forensic science. I’ve only recently joined The Swans team and already I’ve learnt loads about working in the pub over the short time. I’m a very chatty person which suits working behind the bar as I get to talk to new customers and regulars on a daily basis. I hope to meet new people while working with a great team and community.
Meet the Management Team
All the Management Team want to help strengthen the fabric of the local community, through making connections between people, increasing skills and supporting social and cultural renewal. They want to open The Swan as a local pub and a community hub.
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Richard Allen
Director
I grew up in Windsor, attended the local schools, and taught in both Windsor Girls’ and Boys’ schools, before starting Everyday Theatre in 2004, which progressed on an interesting journey to the Green Room schools we have today. I am passionate about people, education and pubs The Swan presents an opportunity to pursue all of these in what will hopefully be a groundbreaking initiative.
The Green Room School began in 2011 as a part time project with three pupils, helping them re-engage with education. It now operates as 2 independent schools, in Windsor and Kingsley, and a 6th form provision (GR6). All three, judged as Ofsted Outstanding, offer unique opportunities for our learners but are bonded by the same ethos that drives our work. We aim to provide an inspirational alternative learning environment, where every young person has the help they need to achieve success.
Buying The Swan is great news for the local community and also for our school as we now have a perfect place we can use for our GR6 pupils. We hope it can provide a venue for learning, an inspiration for Masters Edge projects and a perfect place to learn vital life and work skills as our pupils prepare for adulthood. Having a pub to be used by the school is a new and exciting project, it sounds like something we should do!
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Will Calvert
Director
I moved to Windsor in 1985 and it's where my kids grew up and Rebecca and I call home. The Swan is a long term project in which my involvement is about making Windsor a better, more inclusive community. The role of the Green Room School is essential to this. Our commitment as directors is to manage all individuals' investment wisely so that, in five years' time, we've created a community hub that changes lives positively and we’re all proud to be part of. It will be hard work but worthwhile and good fun for all involved.
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Richard Douglas
Company Secretary
I moved to Windsor 40 years ago, having met my wife, Hilary, a Windsor lass, at teacher training college. After two years teaching, I was commissioned into the Royal Army Educational Corps. Twenty years later, I left the Army and became CEO of a large grant-making charity. Since taking early retirement I have been looking for the right opportunity to volunteer within the local community. From the first public meeting held at the Brewery I was inspired by the vision of what The Swan in Clewer could become and could provide. Using my experience in education and the charity sector, I hope to be able to help develop a community hub that will support the pupils of The Green Room School and the residents of Windsor.
Meet the Building and Renovations Team
The building team have really got stuck in and made big strides in our journey to re-opening. Apart from organising volunteer events, they have had specialists in to perform work behind the scenes. Soon visible signs such as scaffaling will be part of The Swan whilst we make repairs to roofs, windows and brickwork.
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Lexie Sparks
Volunteer & Site Coordinator
I am a founding member of The Green Room School, and my roles within our organisation have encompassed every element of the education we provide. I now focus on innovation in our schools and developing new directions for our pupils. It is exciting to be at the forefront of such a ground-breaking project as The Swan. It will be the perfect opportunity for our young people to transition into the world of work and be embraced by a community which many of them otherwise would not have the chance to be a part of.
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Matthew Allen
Project Manager for The GRS
Teacher of the Edge/Life Skills and the IB.
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Graham Cunningham
Site Consultant
I have lived within 200yds of The Swan for 16 years. My wife & I have three young kids who go to school, play sports and thrive in the local area. I have more than 20 years of experience of working in Property and Construction and am now helping The Swan team on project design and delivery. I have a passion for heritage-buildings, design, beer and food; and see The Swan as a great opportunity to further enrich the local community.
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Sasha Harbridge
Financial Wizard
I moved to Windsor 10 years ago with my husband and two boys and love the community spirit Windsor seems to evoke. As an experienced Commercial Manager and Finance Analyst, I am keen to help out with the financial management of The Swan. Particularly as both boys have been through the Windsor Youth Football Club with Willie as Chairman and the family are all fans of the amazing work that The Green Room do (and their future plans for The Swan). Not to mention that fact that my husband & I are regulars at both the Brewery and The George! Cheers!.
Meet the Friends of The Swan
All volunteers. All passionate about The Swan. All want to restore The Swan as a local pub ... and to create a unique community hub. Aim of the team is to spread the word and to raise funds for the renovation.
With a quite varied approach - from web, to social media, to traditional press and radio - the team evangelise the story of The Swan. Further, the team are making grant applications to varied and appropiate potential benefactors. Ideas and suggestions are always welcomed.
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Anne Tebbatt
Chair & Press
I moved to Windsor in 2002, intending to stay for no more than 12 months.... 16 years later, I am still here! I work as a Global Project Manager in clinical research, which allows me to travel to some amazing places, but have been searching for something to get me more involved in the community I now call home. As a lover of 'proper pubs and proper beer' with a goddaughter who has been diagnosed as autistic, the vision of The Swan as a community hub and social enterprise seemed to align perfectly with things important to me, so when the opportunity to get more involved came along I was excited to volunteer. I enjoy travelling, walking, watching sport (especially rugby), dancing, baking, the theatre and much more... so keeping busy is not difficult!! I hope to see you for a pint when we open!
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Rachel Cross
Twitter
I am a born and bred Windsorian, married with a daughter. I am the headteacher of a Slough primary school and also support across Slough Borough with school improvement. I am the 'Chief Tweeter' for the 'SaveSwan' Twitter account. I developed a liking for beer when the brewery first opened as I wanted to support a local business and I needed to drink something when accompanying my husband there! We've watched the business grow and I wanted to be part of a project that brought together beer with my passion for education, especially supporting young people with additional needs having once been teacher in charge of an infant special needs resource base.
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Louise Winch
Events
I have had the pleasure of calling Windsor my home for over 20 years. I live on Parsonage Lane and my community means a lot to me. I am married to Martin, have two rugby mad boys called Jimmy and Eddie and have a lively Cavapoo dog called Evie. My job in marketing at O2 has given me the opportunity to put my skills to use to bring us together to save The Swan and I am keen to be involved in ensuring it meets the needs of the community and brings joy to many. You'll find me drinking a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc.
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Ian Birch
Facebook & NextDoor
I was born and bred locally and moved to Clewer a year ago, after my wife Louise and our son inherited her family home. We have been married for 19 years. After 20 years as a mechanical engineer, I changed career path to move into property refurbishment, which I still do today. I was a volunteer for The British Red Cross, and also for the King George VI Day Centre in Clarence Road. I am a keen real ale supporter and a member of CAMRA. In fact, Louise and I can often be found enjoying evenings in the tap room at Windsor & Eton Brewery. Clewer Village already has a community feel, and I believe the opening of The Swan will bring a whole new atmosphere to the area.
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Peter Clifford
Marketing
I am a husband to Claire and father to 3 grown-up children. Our family have lived in Windsor for almost 30 years. Having spent a career in Marketing and Commercial Planning, which included 5 years service on a food industry PR and Communications committee, I have recently taken early retirement, giving me the opportunity to invest both my time and my energy, as well as my experience, into The Swan. I am a lifelong supporter of real ale with an interest in local independent breweries; so I am really keen to see the reopening of The Swan early in 2019 in order to indulge this passion!
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Ken Sutherland
Web & IT
I am currently trialling retirement; before that, I had various management positions within the telecoms industry. I moved down from Scotland to Windsor almost 20 years ago and, to be honest, I am still loving it! People who know me will tell you that I love beer and curries (which explains my size). I used to be a regular at The Swan and have some fabulous memories and met some fantastic people. My aim is simple: to help The Swan become phoenix-like and bring it back to life as a cracking wee local pub.
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Richard Douglas
Grants
I moved to Windsor 40 years ago, having met my wife, Hilary, a Windsor lass, at teacher training college. After two years teaching, I was commissioned into the Royal Army Educational Corps. Twenty years later, I left the Army and became CEO of a large grant-making charity. Since taking early retirement I have been looking for the right opportunity to volunteer within the local community. From the first public meeting held at the Brewery I was inspired by the vision of what The Swan in Clewer could become and could provide. Using my experience in education and the charity sector, I hope to be able to help develop a community hub that will support the pupils of The Green Room School and the residents of Windsor.