Good news ….. on 23 July 2026, the SHDC confirmed that the Ship Inn is an Asset Of Community Value.  This means it will remain an ACV for 5 years and it is possible that any future planning application to change it from pub to a dwelling or some other use could be denied because of this.

What happens now is the owner cannot sell it without first giving the community 6 months to prepare and submit a bid.  We have until 3 September to declare our intention to bid and until 23 January 2027 to submit the bid.

Check the FAQ for more details.

Shipmates Project Community Meeting – 7pm 12 August 2026 – Fraser Room, St Laurence Church, Surfleet.

We don’t want to assume anything.  We want to know what you think, what you want, what you care about and we want to build this into the community pub you want to enjoy.  We need to know your thoughts on how the pub should and could be funded.  The recent survey gave us a good idea of what everyone wants and we want to share this with you so we all know what we are aiming for.  We also will be discussing the work ahead, the type of society we want to own and run the pub.  Please come along, listen and have your say – these are important matters which will inform and guide us on this journey.

By the way, if you haven’t yet completed the survey, it is here – please have your say.

…chat, see the history, meet the team, ask questions – we will be at the following venues:

This is an important discussion we will be having at the meeting as one is more attractive to an investor than another.  Interested persons should come along to the Community Meeting to represent their interests and listen to others so a sensible decision in the interests of all can be made.

The principle work ahead of us is to prepare a business case / plan. This is a critical piece of information and a substantial amount of work is required to produce to an appropriate level of detail and quality for investors to invest wisely.  This requires a number of different skills, some of which we have, some of which we would like more expertise on.  So, we are searching for volunteers. Come to the meeting to have a chat.

We are looking for enthusiastic volunteers with a bit of time to help us realise our ambitions.  We’ll be discussing this more at the meeting, in the meantime or if you can’t make it and you have skills / experience in Accountancy, Fundraising, Legal and/or Governance, or as the Secretary of a group please get in touch by sending an email addressed to ‘Mark’ to support@surfleetshipmates.org.uk.

Please don’t think, ‘oh it’ll be alright, someone else will do it’  They won’t.  If you can, do – get in touch, we will all be forever grateful.