A campaign to revive a popular Haringey pub, which closed in 2020, has secured a £300,000 grant from the government. 

“Save The Step” will receive the grant in full from the Government’s Community Ownership Fund if locals can match the £250,000 pledged for purchase and renovation of the building. If successful, the fund will also provide £50,000 for initial operating costs. 

The Step was a pub and restaurant which opened in 2011 on Myddleton Road, Bowes Park’s preserved Victorian high street. The pub regularly hosted live music, comedy nights and art exhibitions. 

Enfield Independent: Inside The Step pub before its closureInside The Step pub before its closure (Image: Mat Riches)

The venue has been gutted and was due to be turned into flats, but after 500 objections to the planning applications, locals formed a community benefit society to buy the premises. 

Haringey council declared the property an “Asset of Community Value”, which meant the private sale was halted and the society was given the chance to put in a bid. It has so far received pledges totalling £177,000. 

It aims to buy the property, renovate it, and reopen it as a pub. 

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Dan Jones, chair of the campaign, said: “We are delighted to have received this crucial investment from the government that will enable us to take a big step towards re-opening what was once the beating heart of our close-knit community.” 

Toby Nation, who had been going to the pub for almost 10 years, said: “I first went there when I came to the area looking for a flat to buy. It was super friendly, a really amazing atmosphere with a real community. It gave me a really good impression of the neighbourhood and it was one of the reasons I moved there.” 

“I think people have really missed it since it’s been gone. It was the heart of the community.” 

“Save The Step” is one of only three projects in London to be awarded the grant, and it is the only one in North London. The £300,000 they have secured is the maximum any single project can receive. 

The campaign is now looking to raise the rest of their £250,000 funding goal in the next few weeks.