A Merseyside pub has won a national pub award after serving up 20,000 hot meals during lockdown to the community.
Adam and Sue Franklin, landlords of The Horse and Jockey, won a Community Pub Hero Award after setting up a community kitchen from their pub on Waddicar Lane in Melling since the beginning of the first lockdown in March last year.
They sprung into action to provide a food bank and hot meals for those in need including pensioners living in a nearby housing association, making 20,000 meals during the first lockdown.
They also sent out 1,000 care packages, shopped for the community and collected and dropped off medication, ran a 'listening ear' service, calling everyone on their hot meal service to check on them and offer a chat.
Along with an army of volunteers, they have also gone on to set up the Melling Volunteers Community Interest Company, so even after the pandemic they will still be support for the community.
The Horse & Jockey was named the joint winner at the online awards event with The Portsmouth Arms in Basingstoke winning a £500 donation to the charity of their choice and an engraved trophy.
Adam said: "We are thrilled to win this award, it was such a shock given the amazing work of the other publicans. It's a real boost for us as owners but this award is a testament to the amazing tireless work of Melling Volunteers during the pandemic who have brought our community together.
"As we get ready to open fully we look forward to welcoming all of them back in with a hug and a pint and we will all continue supporting our community."
Bill Esterson, MP for Sefton Central, who supported the couple's work, said: "I am really thrilled that The Horse & Jockey in Melling has been named Community Pub Hero 2021. The work Adam & Suzanne have done throughout the pandemic, including delivering over 15,000 hot meals to vulnerable and shielding residents, shows exactly why pubs are the lifeblood of our local communities."
Adam, who used to run The Yacht Club in Liverpool, said that during the lockdown his brother David, 46, who works as a chef alongside his son Sam, 23, who is head chef, was working seven days a week making up to 200 meals a day for the community.
Adam is passionate about continuing their community work long after the pandemic is over.
He added: "We couldn't have done any of this without all our volunteers, we've had up to 50 people volunteering with us.
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"With Melling Volunteers Community Interest Company we'll be able to harness what we're doing now into a legacy for the community. We've already had a 40ft container donated and we plan to build a permanent community kitchen in the back yard of the pub to use for training and as a store cupboard.
"Volunteering and the pub go hand in hand and it will continue. After all of this, I can't imagine doing one without the other. We couldn't have done all this without our volunteers."
