Former Spandau Ballet frontman Tony Hadley has stepped up his campaign to help save a village pub.
During the summer, a community campaign to reopen the Rose & Thistle in Haddenham, near Thame, was supported by the singer who enjoyed worldwide success with hits including True, Gold and Through The Barricades.
Now the eighties legend has renewed his support for the campaign to raise £750,000 to buy the pub by highlighting the efforts of villagers by highlighting their efforts in a chat with Dan Walker on Channel 5 news.
READ MORE: 80s legend backs village bid to save pub
Campaigners from the Rose & Thistle Reborn group sent in a video message to thank Tony – known to his friends as ‘Tone’ – and he told the presenter why village pubs are such important community hubs.
A spokesman for the campaigners told Dan Walker: “Tony has been fantastic at helping us to publicise our campaign.”
Tony Hadley (Image: Contributed)
Tony told Dan: “My mate Spaz, it was his pub and he went back to Romania.
“He was a great guy and we have been in touch recently. They have been trying to get the pub up and running again.
“We just got another pub up and running and that was a community buyout which I was involved in – I just like a pub.
“A lot of the brewers are not running the pubs the way they should be run and they are charging too much for the beer and everything else, so it doesn’t make it sensible if you are a tenant.”
The singer added: “The first thing you do is buy it (the pub) and get the freehold and then you control it.
“Then you control it as a community because at the end of the day it is the hub of the community.”
Dan Walker concluded the news item by saying: “If anyone out there wants their pub to be saved then contact Tony.”
Tony Hadley chats to Dan Walker on Channel 5 news (Image: YouTube)
The Rose & Thistle’s crowdfunding campaign said earlier: “The Rose & Thistle is an iconic pub in the heart of the conservation area of Haddenham, by the village green and opposite St Mary’s Church – a place that has hosted countless meals, celebrations, conversations and chance encounters over the years.
“Tragically, Rose & Thistle closed in 2019 and, while the current owners had hoped to reopen, it is now for sale and at risk of being sold to developers and converted to a residential property. And once a pub is turned into a house, it’s almost impossible to bring it back.
“We’re not here to be alarmist – but we are being honest: this is a time-limited opportunity. If we do nothing, we may lose the pub for good. We need your help to stop it from being last orders at The Rose & Thistle.”
The Rose & Thistle in Haddenham near Thame (Image: Contributed)
It is understood that the crowdfunding campaign has raised about £113,000 so far towards the £750,000 target.
The campaign group is hosting a public meeting on October 15 in St Mary’s Central Main Hall at 7pm so people can discuss fundraising moving forward.
In 2024, Mr Hadley, who lives near Thame, backed the Ashendon Community Pub Society as it raised £549,494 to save its village pub, the Hundred of Ashendon, as a community asset near the Oxfordshire border.
The gastropub had been closed, having previously appeared in the Michelin guide before the efforts of the community as well as support coming from places as far as the USA and Japan.
Tony Hadley’s Big Band Tour arrives at Oxford’s New Theatre on November 12.