The Team
Robin Draper
Chair
Moved to Bethersden 35 years ago with Marian and three teenage children. Once in Bethersden he served 10 years as Chief Executive of a local farmers Co-operative and then in 1996 started his own gardening business. 'The community of Bethersden has been hugely important to me and centre to this has been the friendship that I have enjoyed with many villagers at The George'.
Joanne Brannan
Membership and Communications Officer
Moved to Bethersden ten years ago to buy her first home and start a family with her husband and lifelong village resident, Duncan. Formerly a Sales Director with an international media agency, Jo now splits her time between raising two young children and running her own business from home. She is excited to be part of the team bringing The George back to life as a vibrant community hub
Roger Kelly
Treasurer and Refurbishment Project Manager
Has been an acoustic engineer for 30 years and started his own business twenty years ago. The business has recently been sold and he is looking for a new business challenge on top of golf! He has lived in Bethersden for over seven years and is committed to helping The George reopen
Alex Withington
Vice Chair and Commercial Manager
Alex has lived in the village with his wife since 2014 and now has 2 young (and very active) children. Formally Head of Commercial Operations at BT, he's now Head of Restaurant Sales at Deliveroo. Alex loves cask (proper) beer and used to help out at The George's annual beer festival and he's looking forward to bringing some fantastic local drinks to The George!
Michele Sadler
Secretary and Community Officer
Michele has lived in Bethersden for 32 years and runs her own business from home. In her role as Community Officer, Michele consults with the wider Bethersden community to understand how we can best support local groups and clubs. She also leads on grant applications for funding to help grow the George Community, as well as other fund raising opportunities.
Welcome to the George Community
Monday - Closed
Tuesday - Closed
Wednesday and Thursday - 12noon to 10pm
Friday and Saturday - 12noon to 11pm
Sunday - 12noon to 9pm
CAFE
Wednesday to Saturday - 10.30am to 4pm
ABOUT THE GEORGE
Standing in the heart of Bethersden in Kent, The George has, for several decades, been the social centre of village life.
Following the pub's closure in 2020, local residents came together to form 'The George Community' with the aim of saving it.
On 11th July 2021 we applied to the FCA to form the Community Benefit Society and The George Community Limited became a legal entity on 2nd August 2021.
With the support of Ashford Borough Council, Bethersden Parish Council, the Plunkett Foundation and our local MP Damian Green, a successful share offer was launched at the end of November 2022 which raised £300K in just a few weeks. With part-matched funding from the Government's Community Ownership Scheme, we were finally able to buy The George and took possession of the pub at the beginning of February 2023.
We have refurbished and reopened this most precious asset and aim to protect it for generations to come, with all profits redirected back into our community.
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Contact Info
Contact us
Allergen Disclaimer
The safety of our customers is extremely important to us, which is why we take allergies very seriously. Though our kitchen is currently closed for refurbishment, we do have a cafe at the George, which sells prepacked bakery items, as well as home-made bakes from our local bakers.
Whenever visiting our cafe, please advise a team member to make us fully aware of any allergies you might have before ordering from us. Though we have taken extensive steps to ensure that the list of allergen ingredients in our cafe is accurate, we cannot say that any item is "free-from" any allergen, but only that it does not contain that allergen as an ingredient. If you have any queries relating to this, please see a member of staff upon your arrival to the George, or send an email to thegeorgebethersden@gmail.com