Something for everyone is promised by Cannock pub's new boss
Fun and games are planned at a pub in Cannock since a new licensee took up her place behind the bar.
Julie Cooper has drawn up a programme of events at The Pied Piper in Pye Green Road.
The new boss wants to turn the local into a community base where various groups, clubs and teams can meet.
She plans to hold fundraising events for a Cannock charity chosen by her customers – and has already got several ideas on the go.
Among them is a Run For Home race in which teams will be dropped off 40 miles from the pub with the challenge of making it back without using any money.
Julie, aged 39, is looking for a firm to lend them a coach or minibuses to drop off teams on the day.
She is also launching a men's and a women's Pied Piper calendar for 2014.
Most months already have volunteers, and a customer, who works as a photographer, has offered to take the pictures for the calendar.
It is a move back to the Midlands for Julie, who was brought up in Uttoxeter, and partner Martin, originally from Solihull. The couple, who have a 10-year-old daughter Eloise, ran a pub in Doncaster for five years but wanted to be nearer their family. They took over in mid-January.
Julie said: "We want to have real community pub. Any clubs who want to use the lounge to meet would be very welcome," she added.
"Groups can hold fetes in the beer garden. We're getting a 3D television for the lounge with surround-sound so we can show films there.
"We want to set up darts and dominoes teams.
"People just need to come and speak to us."
Julie is now looking for a good cause to support and is inviting local charities to write to her.
She will compile a list and ask her customers to which choose which ones they would like to support.
In Doncaster, she won Best Community Pub for three years running.
She said: "We just want to bring people together, have a good time and raise some money for others."
Julie is hoping to bring that award-winning community spirit to the Pied Piper pub too.
In recent years, many pubs have reported an increase in people playing traditional pub games such as darts and dominoes.
Bar billiards, table skittles and cribbage have also seen a boom in popularity.
Camra issued a rallying cry for people to support their local pubs and hailed the return of pub games as a way of helping to revive them.
