We’re here, we’re open and we’re a great place to visit.

That’s the message from The Harrow Community Benefit Society which runs Stockbury’s very own community pub, The Harrow.

Helen Whately MP couldn’t agree more.

She was at The Harrow – which is between Maidstone and Sittingbourne – on Friday to congratulate the villagers on their achievements and to tell them that she had nominated them for the Community Pub Hero Award 2024.

Villagers first got together back in 2016, when brewer Shepherd Neame announced it wanted to dispose of The Harrow, with the likelihood it would be turned into housing.

The village formed a community benefit society and sold shares to raise enough money, with the help of a small mortgage, to buy the pub from the brewers.

With support from the Plunkett Foundation and others, they were able to re-open the 250-year-old pub as a community venture.

Mrs Whately showed her support from the off, putting in a good word with Shepherd Neame’s chief executive Jonathan Neame.

The Community Pub Hero Awards are run by Pub Aid and the winners will receive their awards at the House of Commons on March 5. Last year all the winners were in the north of England.

Life hasn’t been easy for the new owners of The Harrow, though. Business was hit first by Covid and then by the disruption caused by the extended works on the M2/A249.

There were times when potential customers simply couldn’t reach the pub because of the traffic congestion.

Fortunately, all that has changed.

The A249 works are now in their final stages and the roads through Stockbury are no longer choked with diverted traffic.

Villagers are hoping that life can now return to normal.

Committee member Anne Southern said: “We are very keen to get the message out that we are still here and we are still open.

“We are also still open to investors – we even have a couple from Texas who pop in when they come to visit relatives.

“We are also crowdfunding to raise £5,000 for improvements – for example, we currently rent a glass washer; if we can buy our own that will be a saving in the future.”

So far, the pub has received no compensation from National Highways for the loss of business it suffered due to the roadworks, but the owners haven’t given up trying.

Parish councillor Geoff Moody said: “For the first 18 months of the roadworks, traffic was so bad on the A249 that people were rat-running through the village and that put customers off coming to the pub.

“It wasn’t just the pub that was affected of course; the shop up the road had the same problems. The village isn’t big enough to keep these businesses going ourselves; we have to have people coming in from outside.

“But now we’re getting back to normal and now’s the time for trade to come back.”

Mrs Southern said: “We are a very small village and we are split by the A249 and we do need the support of the surrounding communities.”

The Community Benefit Society is hoping for a new source of income soon.

Committee chairman Chris Porter explained: “With the help of some very generous local people, we have been able to convert the pub’s former living accommodation into a separate apartment with its own access, which we are hoping to let out soon to someone from the local community.”

Besides any rent, it will save the pub committee from having to pay double council tax on the property.

On Friday morning, the pub was busy with members of the local Zumba class having a post-workout coffee.

Committee member Penny Spearman said: “There’s not much money in the village at the moment, so we try to do things to get people in without too much expenditure – quiz nights and the like.

“Some people just come in to use the wifi.”

Mrs Whately said: “The village has done such a wonderful job saving this pub. They deserve all our support.”

The Harrow is on The Street. It serves lunchtime and evening meals and there is some parking in front of the pub.

For more details visit here.

To contribute to the Crowdfunding campaign, click here.

The pub received a favourable review from the Secret Drinker who found “the blend of pub/community hub worked really well”.

Mrs Southern said: “Our message is – everyone’s welcome.”