Willingham by Stow's The Half Moon Inn in National Pub Awards Final

The Half Moon Inn was nominated by pub regular, Louise Foreman, in the Community Fundraising Hero category and the entry has seen competition from almost 1000 other pubs nationwide.

This Community Fundraising Award Hero recognises pubs who support charities and other good causes through fundraising. This is not just judged on the amount of money raised, but on how it was done.

Two other pubs, The Railway Inn and The Black Bull Inn in Thorpe on the Hill, Lincoln and East Holton respectively have also been shortlisted.

The pub was shortlisted because when Louise Foreman was diagnosed with incurable cancer, whilst pregnant, the pub held an auction night to raise a substantial sum to enable Louise and her four children to make everlasting memories together.

Owner, Steve Race said “We are so overwhelmed to have been nominated for such a fantastic award, to have made it to the finals from so many entries is an achievement in itself.

“Willingham by Stow is one of those rare magical villages where the community are one big family, the credit has to go to them and of course Gav and the team at the Half Moon who deliver such great service, create such a welcoming atmosphere and make it a place people want to be.

“Thank you to everyone who supports us, who attends fundraisers and event days, goes the extra mile to help us keep the doors open and a special thanks to a wonderful lady for the nomination to begin with.”

The winners will be announced at an award ceremony, sponsored by Matthew Clark, at the Houses of Parliament on 5 March and all shortlisted pubs are invited to attend along with industry leaders and MPs.

Des O’Flanagan, co-founder of PubAid, added: “We launched these awards to celebrate the great work that pubs do for their community. The Half Moon Inn is a perfect example of how pubs support and are a hub for many people in their community. The awards are in their fifth year and the volume of entries this year was staggering. What clearly came across from reading all the entries is that there are so many publicans that are doing amazing work nationwide. It was very hard to get to a shortlist so even getting to the finals is an amazing accolade for The Half Moon Inn.”

PubAid, which organises the awards in association with Matthew Clark and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, has refreshed the awards and created more categories to congratulate more community pubs throughout the UK. There are 33 finalists in total across five categories.