TikTok village pub campaigners raise £600k for bid

Campaigners who went viral with their take on a Gen Z TikTok trend have raised £600,000 in a bid to buy their village pub.

The Elm Tree Inn in Langton Herring, near Weymouth, closed its doors in November 2023.

The Friends of the Elm Tree group posted a video about the pub in January as villagers rallied to get the money together.

The group, who met the target through fundraising and selling shares in the business, had until 3 March to submit a bid to the owner.

Alan Cooper of Friends of the Elm Tree said it was a "daunting mountain" to raise the amount needed.

"But I am happy to say that the villagers have been incredible and we are just about there," he added.

He said the group expected to put in a bid to purchase the pub on Friday.

"The owner is not obliged to accept the offer but we hope very, very much that he will.

"Having the village without its pub is only half a village," he said.

Their short video clips on social media saw the village's baby boomers adopt youth slang in a bid to get their message across to younger supporters.

In one clip, villager Hilary Warren, urges viewers to "be an Elm Tree stan and help these boomers save their pub".

The video has currently been viewed more than 2.3 million times and attracted support from as far afield as Brazil and Canada.

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