Put simply: the two paths
The club’s members have already voted to sell. This campaign is not asking the existing committee to carry on running it—and Scott is not asking to own or manage the Workies. We are organising one additional option for members to consider before any binding private sale: a new, independent Community Benefit Society.
It is a request for enough time to build, cost and independently test a community proposal. If it does not stand up, members will know. If it does, they deserve the chance to vote on it.
The debts and other obligations still need to be verified and resolved.
Path 1 · Private ownership
Advertised auction guide £200,000 A guide price—not a guaranteed sale price.
The outcome: it may remain a pub, but its future depends on the private owner and any binding legal terms.
Path 2 · Community ownership
Proposed buyer A new CBS Price and finance still have to be agreed and approved.
Who runs it? The board governs it. A paid general manager and trained venue team run it day to day.
The outcome: the proposed rules include a permanent asset lock, keeping the building and its value working for community benefit.
The simple request
Nobody is being asked to approve it blindly. We are asking members to hear a properly costed, professionally reviewed CBS proposal before the club enters a binding private sale.
No CBS purchase, loan or price has yet been approved. It requires the records, valuation, legal checks, an agreed sale and lender approval. Existing committee members have no automatic role in the new body. Like other residents, they could only participate under the CBS’s new democratic rules. An asset lock does not override the normal rights of a secured lender if the society fails.
Urgent update · 29 July 2026
The Workies rescue plan now has a route into Welsh Government.
Cefin is an elected Member of the Senedd for Sir Gaerfyrddin—and a serving Welsh Government Deputy Minister. He has agreed to sit down with this campaign, Cwmpas, WCVA, PLANED and relevant advisers in early September to examine the community rescue plan properly.
If the plan stands up, he has said he will put his support behind it: helping us open doors, make the case for future funding and explain publicly why the Workies deserves the chance to stay in community hands.
This is major progress, but it is not a loan or grant approval. The plan still has to pass professional scrutiny.
The missing piece is time. The auction is advertised for 10 September. We need Workies members to give this plan a fair hearing before any binding private sale. Current member? Add your name now →
Weeks—not an open-ended wait
We have already spoken directly with Cwmpas and WCVA about the structure and the property-purchase loan. The route is real. What remains is completing the plan, passing the checks and allowing the approved money time to arrive.
Now
Cwmpas for the CBS and community shares. WCVA for the purchase loan. PLANED for community-asset and management support.
By 1 September
Complete the CBS, board, business plan, financial model, social-impact case and lender evidence.
Early September
Cwmpas, WCVA, PLANED, Cefin Campbell MS and advisers examine the plan and identify anything that must be fixed.
Possible by late September
A WCVA adviser indicated that, if we move quickly and the application is approved, funding by the end of September may be achievable.
The application must pass affordability, security and due diligence. But this is not a request to wait years for an imaginary scheme. It is a short community-rescue window to finish a purchase route that is already being worked on.
The route—in plain English
This is not Scott asking to buy the Workies personally. A new Community Benefit Society would buy it, own it and run it for community benefit. The specialists and the finance route for doing that already exist.
1
Create the community buyer
Cwmpas has more than 40 years’ experience supporting Welsh co-operatives, social enterprises and community ownership. They will help us establish the society properly and develop a community share offer.
They have helped communities save pubs and valued local businesses before. Cefin trusts their expertise and wants them involved in the September review.
See Cwmpas community shares2
Finance the purchase
WCVA’s Welsh Government-funded Community Asset Loan Fund exists specifically to help eligible community organisations bring property into community ownership. It offers loans of up to £300,000 for property purchase.
That means the Community Benefit Society can pursue the purchase instead of leaving the field to a private buyer. The Workies application still has to pass affordability and due diligence, but this is a real purchase route designed for exactly this kind of community asset.
The timing: a WCVA adviser indicated that a successful fast-moving application may be capable of funding by the end of September. That is why a short extension beyond the 10 September auction matters.
See the WCVA purchase fund3
Make it stronger
The loan can secure the building. Community shares can bring local people into ownership and reduce reliance on borrowing. Trading income supports repayments, while eligible grants can be pursued for larger improvements after the building is secured.
The Workies has genuine potential: real existing turnover, several usable spaces, a central village location, 133 years of history and local organisations that want to use it.
4
Test everything properly
Cwmpas, WCVA, PLANED, Cefin Campbell MS and the relevant advisers will review the structure, management, figures and funding route in early September. Weaknesses get fixed before anyone commits.
The only thing missing
We need 25 members to submit the Rule 28 requisition. That triggers the committee’s duty to convene the meeting. We also need the records and a written commitment that no binding private sale will happen before members have heard the proposal.
I’m a member—add my nameWhy the pledges still matter
Recurring support does not buy the building by itself. It demonstrates dependable community demand and contributes to affordability alongside trading income. That evidence matters to advisers, lenders and funders.
People are currently giving
£608/month
96 monthly supporters and £491 given once.
Figures update from campaign payment records.
Make a refundable pledge If the first campaign gate is missed by 1 September, payments are refunded.
The route being built
This is a working route, subject to records, valuation, legal advice, finance approval and a sale agreement. It is not a completed deal.
Reach the £2,500 monthly evidence gate, gather survey results and secure written support from local organisations and residents.
Register a Community Benefit Society with a skilled, representative founding board, rules, controls and its own bank account.
Complete the business plan, financial scenarios, social impact plan, use plan, due-diligence checklist and proposed funding package.
Put the plan before Cwmpas, WCVA, PLANED, Cefin Campbell MS and appropriate advisers. Fix weaknesses before asking anyone to commit.
The club must give the democratic process enough time to work: a members’ vote, access to the required records and no binding sale before the proposal is reviewed.
Apply for suitable community finance, agree a verified purchase price and liabilities, complete legal and building due diligence, and proceed only if the society can afford it.
Reopen safely, rebuild the offer and use trading evidence to pursue eligible grants and finance for larger improvements.
What the plan is built on
Reported for 2025/26, after a stronger prior year of £201,794 net. That gives the model a real trading base, not a guessed turnover.
Wages, utilities, media, rates, licensing, insurance, stock and compliance costs are being modelled openly, including a cautious downside case.
Menter Ty’n Llan has shared its accounts and the full story of how a village of 400 people bought, rebuilt and reopened its pub.
Darllen llythyr Huw yn Gymraeg · English available →Conversations include local sport, family and community organisations interested in using a renewed venue. Written commitments will be sought for the final plan.
The law cannot pause this for us
The Welsh Government has announced its intention to legislate for stronger community ownership rights. But that protection is not in force today and cannot currently stop or delay this auction.
That is unlucky for Tumble—and it shows exactly why the new law is needed. For this building, the immediate route is for 25 Workies members to exercise Rule 28, require a Special General Meeting and give the community proposal a fair hearing.
Rule 28 · members can trigger this
You do not need to be on the committee. A written requisition from 25 members stating the purpose of the meeting requires the committee to convene a Special General Meeting.
What adding your name means
Requesting the meeting does not commit you to attending or voting for the proposal. It only says that members should be given the opportunity to hear and discuss it.
We will ask for the full proposal to be shared with the seven-day meeting notice, an online listening option and replay for anyone who cannot attend, and a route for written comments to be read or summarised during the meeting.
Rule 29 guarantees seven days’ notice of the meeting and its business. The advance proposal, remote access, replay and written comment arrangements must still be requested and agreed by the club.
Complete the private member form above. We will prepare one clear written document for current members to verify and sign.
Vote on a protected period for the CBS plan to be reviewed, and request that no binding sale happens before members decide.
Request a meeting between 24 and 28 August. Rule 29 requires at least seven days’ notice of the meeting and its business.
Rule 28
The club’s published 1990 rules say the committee must call a Special General Meeting when it receives a written request from 25 members stating the purpose. You do not need 25 committee members or the committee’s permission to trigger that duty. Rule 29 requires seven days’ notice.
The message to the club
The debts need resolving and nobody is asking the creditors to be ignored. But a rushed private sale is no longer the only route. Cwmpas, WCVA, PLANED, a new Community Benefit Society and a proper professional review are now being assembled.
Give us the short window to do the work before making an irreversible sale. If the plan fails professional scrutiny, the members will know. If it succeeds, Tumble keeps the Workies in community hands.
The fair question
Money can secure the building. It cannot run a bar, manage staff or build a programme. The rescue plan therefore includes a paid general manager and a properly costed venue team—not a hope that volunteers will somehow cover every shift.
Community members
One member, one vote.
Elected CBS board
Sets the plan, controls risk and holds management to account.
Paid general manager
Owns the day-to-day trading plan, people, standards and numbers.
Paid venue team
Trained bar staff, event staff and specialist operators where needed.
The first operational appointment
A paid, trained team on a rota matched to the opening plan. Existing staff would be welcome to apply. Volunteers can strengthen community events, but the core business model cannot depend on unpaid people covering normal bar shifts.
The plan is to ring-fence 12 months of employment cost within the overall start-up package. That package could combine permitted loan funding, community shares, pledges and other social finance. WCVA must confirm exactly what its property-purchase loan may fund; we will not assume it can pay wages until that is agreed in writing.
No. Scott is organising the independent campaign and bringing the right people together. He is not asking to own the building, run the bar or appoint himself as general manager. The community would own the CBS, members would elect its board, and the board would recruit the person responsible for daily operation.
Reopen safely, stabilise trade and reach break-even. The financial model must also show a cautious case with a controlled first-year loss and enough working capital to survive it. If that downside case cannot be funded responsibly, the society should not complete the purchase.
No. It creates a credible alternative buyer, a democratic legal structure and access to specialist support and community-finance routes. The new team would still have to recruit well, control costs, improve margins and give people reasons to use the Workies. This is step one—not a magic wand.
There is no automatic government rescue and no honest campaign should promise one. The board would have to act early: change the operating plan, bring in another community operator, lease parts of the building or pursue another community-benefit solution. A secured lender still has normal legal rights if debts cannot be paid. The proposed asset lock protects the community purpose, but it does not cancel creditor or insolvency law.
No. The CBS would be a new legal organisation with new rules, open membership and a newly elected board. The current committee would have no automatic control. Governance and day-to-day management would also be separated: the board governs; the paid manager runs the venue.
The whole thing in plain English
Think of it as a legal box owned democratically by local people. The box owns the Workies. No single person owns the box or gets to take its profits home.
It is a padlock on the value—not a forcefield around the building. While the CBS is healthy, its assets and money must be used for community benefit. The lock does not erase debts or a secured lender’s rights if the CBS becomes insolvent.
It means the building backs the borrowing. If the CBS stops paying and no rescue works, the lender can ultimately use or sell the building to recover what it is owed.
No. Welsh Government funds the WCVA loan scheme, but the CBS would own the Workies. Government does not automatically take it over or rescue it if the business fails.
In the worst case, yes. If the CBS failed and the property had to be sold to repay creditors, a later buyer could seek planning permission for housing. The asset lock protects community value; it cannot promise the same building will remain a pub forever.
One fair chance. Time to build the society, test the numbers, recruit capable people and let members compare a genuine community offer with a private sale before the decision becomes irreversible.
The honest answer: community ownership does not guarantee success. It gives Tumble a properly managed chance—and keeps community benefit at the centre of every decision.
Transparency matters
No agreed purchase price. Around £120,000 of reported liabilities is a working possibility, not an accepted sale price. It must be verified and legally agreed.
No approved Workies loan yet. WCVA’s property-purchase fund definitely exists and can finance eligible community buyers. Our society must still submit the Workies application and pass its security, affordability and due-diligence checks.
No promised grant. Eligible grant routes may help later, but the society must apply and compete for them.
No political approval. Cefin Campbell’s role is scrutiny, support and opening doors—not making a lender’s or funder’s decision.
No claim that every private buyer will build housing. The point is that the community would no longer control what is later proposed, subject to planning law.
No blank cheque. The society should proceed only after accounts, debts, title, valuation, surveys, legal terms and the business plan stand up.
Last updated 29 July 2026. This page separates reported information, work in progress and confirmed decisions. We will correct it publicly if better evidence changes the position.