Hi, my name is Gillian Collins. I am a resident of Brough Sowerby in Cumbria and I am asking for your help in our campaign to rescue our village pub.

Our close-knit community is working together to raise money to eventually buy and restore the Belah Bridge Inn which is our local historic public house, and which closed its doors over seven years ago.

The Belah Bridge Inn was established in the 1840s as a public house, originally named The Black Bull, and like so many pubs across the country, it risks being lost forever. We cannot stand back and let this happen and are committed to doing our utmost to Save Our Pub and once again breathe life into the heart of our village.

Brough Sowerby is a small village in the beautiful Upper Eden Valley, in the heart of Cumbria. Our vision is to not only have a thriving pub for the residents of our village, the wider community and passing visitors, but also a place that we can use as a hub for various activities to support our community and others living in the locality.

Our initial goal is to raise enough funds to pay for a full structural and business survey so that we can produce a business plan and feasibility study which will enable us to go to the next stage in our journey. We will then be able to approach organisations and potential fund providers for grants and donations, as well as people in our local area and beyond to buy shares in the pub.

We have been organising fundraising events locally, and our target of £4,000 to pay for surveys, legal consultation and ongoing costs to enable a viable bid for The Belah Bridge is still a long way off. We have more fundraising ideas in the pipeline and along with those we have decided to reach out further afield to people who also care about historic rural landmarks and traditions - and to help preserve our heritage.

We know it will be a long and difficult road ahead, but we are a determined bunch of like-minded people hoping to realise our dream of having our own community pub and hub. Please help us get to the second stage of our journey, every penny counts, and donations however small, will be gratefully received.

Thank you so much for your generosity.