Campaigners hoping to bring Charlton’s White Swan pub back to life are hosting a fundraising pub quiz later this month.
The event will take place five years after the pub closed suddenly, just a few days before the Covid lockdown in March 2020.
Since then the Isle of Man-based developer Mendoza has kept the pub closed and in a deteriorating condition. In 2023 The Greenwich Wire revealed that a cannabis farm had been found in the bar while nine months ago we revealed that Croydon Council had moved a homeless household into an outbuilding in the beer garden.
Last year an attempt to convert the bar into a supermarket and build two floors on top for flats was thrown out by a planning inspector, who ruled that Mendoza had not done enough to keep the building open as a pub.
The inspector also criticised the company for not trying to sell the building outright to attract those who could refurbish the pub.
Now White Swan Music & Arts, which wants to save the pub and ensure it helps revive Charlton Village’s local economy, is fundraising to pay for campaign materials and professional help. It is holding a pub quiz on Wednesday March 12 at 7.30pm at the Green Goddess pub in Blackheath. Entry is £5 per person.
The campaign’s chair, Suzanne Hunt, said: “Our pub quiz is a step along Charlton’s journey to breathe life back into our pub. We hope you can join us to contribute to our fighting fund, make new friends and celebrate our journey so far.”
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