Our purpose
To ensure a commercially viable, friendly and family-inclusive village pub serving food and drink is open and available to all members of our community in perpetuity.
Oakley Parish Council purchased the Chandos Arms in 2021 to protect it as a community asset. Villagers then formed Oakley Village Pub Ltd (OVPL), a Community Benefit Society, to lease the building and provide long-term stewardship.
More than a pub
The Chandos Arms is one of the places where village life happens. It is somewhere friends and neighbours can meet, local teams and groups can gather, families can feel welcome, and residents can enjoy events, quizzes, food, drink and the garden close to home.
A good community pub creates everyday opportunities for connection. It gives people a familiar, informal place to talk, celebrate, welcome newcomers and spend time with others. That social role matters particularly in a village, where losing a shared meeting place can leave fewer chances for people of different ages and backgrounds to come together.
Connection
A welcoming meeting place where friends, neighbours and newcomers can feel part of village life.
Local life
A home for clubs, sports, quizzes, live music, celebrations and the ordinary conversations that hold a community together.
Future generations
A family-friendly community asset protected today so that Oakley continues to have a village pub tomorrow.
What is a Community Benefit Society?
A Community Benefit Society, often shortened to CBS, is a form of incorporated business registered by the Financial Conduct Authority. Its defining purpose is to conduct its business for the benefit of the wider community, rather than to generate private benefit for its members.
- Community purpose: the Society exists to deliver lasting benefit for Oakley and the wider community.
- Democratic control: members have one vote each, regardless of how many shares they hold.
- Community investment: local people can buy shares and provide patient capital to help protect and improve an important local asset.
- Reinvestment: surpluses support the Society’s community purpose rather than being distributed simply for private gain.
- Accountability: members elect the Management Committee, receive reports and can take part in key Society decisions.
What OVPL does
OVPL represents the community as landlord and long-term custodian of the Chandos Arms building. Its work includes protecting the property for pub use, overseeing governance and membership, caring for maintenance and improvements, managing relationships with Oakley Parish Council and the pub operator, and ensuring decisions remain connected to the Society’s community purpose.
The day-to-day pub operation is a separate business. The Chandos Arms website therefore remains the place for opening times, menus, events, bookings and operational enquiries; OVPL focuses on ownership, stewardship, membership and the future of the asset.
Why community ownership matters
Community ownership gives Oakley a practical way to take responsibility for a place the village values. It combines local investment with democratic oversight and a long-term purpose: maintaining a viable pub while protecting the building as a welcoming social asset.
A pub today. A community forever.