Latest open letter from the Chair.

Dear Friends of the Riser

We are facing the end of an era. David and Ruth have confirmed that they have come to an arrangement with Young’s for them to leave after the 14th August.

While we have failed to preserve the status quo beyond August, this campaign has bought precious time and given strength to Dave and Ruth’s negotiations. Please be aware that all your efforts and support have been vital in securing acceptable terms for the Roberts.

The loss of Dave and Ruth will obviously mean a sea change in the pub. Many of you may choose to vote with your feet, but I hope that many continue to support the ideals we have shared at the Riser in recent years and wish to continue to call for choice and an inclusive welcome under the new management.

We must remember that the local residents will have to live with the results of whatever Young’s bring to the Riser and it surely remains in our interests as local drinkers for the pub to be as good as possible.

The STR campaign remains a force to observe and comment on the transition to a Young’s tied house, and to ensure that assurances given to retain the character of the Riser, are acted upon.

Tom Hutchings, Young’s manager of tenanted houses, has spoken with us, suggesting a meeting to discuss our concerns, and to introduce the Tenants they have in mind for the pub. Whilst we have been alienated by Young’s actions, my feeling is that the new tenants must be given an opportunity, as individuals, to be judged on their own merits by their new community.

This meeting recognises the stake that you all have in this pub and provides an opportunity to influence its future. Whilst we may not be able to change the “big” things that would continue to attract us to the pub as customers, it may well be the “little” things that make the pub easier to live with.

We are currently considering a short wish list and would welcome your thoughts, providing they are printable!

It goes without saying that we wish David and Ruth a happy and healthy future. We can all contribute further, by continuing to use the Riser over the next few weeks, where stocks of our favourite beers are to be drunk, until they run out!! So let’s send them off on a high, with a few more pounds in their pockets.

To use Ruth’s words, “now its time for some fun”.

Geoff Virgo
Chair

29th June 2006

David Roberts responds

Read the response of David Roberts to the article in the Epsom Guardian in our press section. It makes an interesting read.

Surrey Online - Beer battle comes to a head

More press coverage!
'Young's wants Dave Roberts, at The Rising Sun, in Epsom, to sell its beers only and has threatened to have him evicted.
But he is refusing to clear other ales from the cellar and his customers are backing his stand by presenting a 1,000-name petition to the brewer.
The new owner,which paid £900,000 for the pub in Heathcote Road, says Dave and wife Ruth will be booted out unless they give in.'

Western Sussex CAMRA

A big thanks to the folks over at Western Sussex CAMRA for supporting our campaign for choice. Read their article on the fate of the riser.

Open letter from the Chair!

Dear Friends of the Riser

So much is happening! So I’m only glad you are not relying on me to report on progress; the website say’s it all.

It’s nearly a week since the last meeting between Young’s and the Roberts. I understand that confirmation of the points agreed at that constructive session is still to materialise.

As you will know we delivered the petition on Wednesday at Wandsworth and hit the Kingston Beer Festival on Friday and Saturday.

We are trying to digest and clarify some of the messages coming from Mr Dardis on Wednesday and Young’s press people as reported in this weeks Guardian.

Much has been going on behind the scenes that will become evident in time.

Thank you to our good friends opposite the Riser for the use of their front gardens for our banner. It certainly highlighted the campaign locally, now we are looking to extend our activity to a wider audience.

We are having a steering meeting on Tuesday night – expect to see some new initiatives.

We still have no indication of how a corporation is going to preserve what individuals have created. We continue to press them to provide answers or an admission that they may have got it wrong this time.

We have a proud history in this town for not complying and don’t intend doing so now.

Kind Regards



Geoff Virgo
Chair

26 June 2006

Thanks to Beer Today!

A big thanks to Darren Norbury at Beer Today for the great coverage on their website! All support is appreciated.

Row Brewing Over Exotic Beer Sales (from This Is Hertfordshire)

This should spread slowly around the news pages on the web now so just click the link above to read the article created at first for the Epsom Guardian.

‘The disgruntled landlord said: "It's killing off choice when our customers know which beers are better. "We have people from Wimbledon who call us their local. I know of 10 or 12 people who have moved house just to be near us. Everyone is distraught."
In the battle of David Roberts versus the brewing Goliath there may be several rounds
to come.’

Down Time

Sorry for the outage this evening. This was a problem with my ISP Plus Net who just for a change were experiencing difficulties.

All should be back to normal now. We may move the web pages on to dedicated servers if the problems continue and notify everyone if this should be the case.

Front Page in the Epsom Guardian

Apparently we’re on the front page of the Epsom Guardian today. Grab a copy and take a look. I’ve tried searching but the article isn’t online yet.

Handing in the Petition and Letters

This is just my take on events. Please click the link on the title to read the full story.

The majority of us went outside for an interesting chat with Patrick Dardis the sales director of Young & Co who indicated that we may not get to keep many of the beers we love so much in the Rising Sun which was disappointing, but he was a nice enough gentleman and gave us 20 minutes or so of his time and all those who wanted to say something were given a moment to speak.

On a positive note it shows how seriously Young & Co are taking us sending out a director of the company at such a busy time for them. We hope this is the start of a fruitful dialog between ourselves and the company, but next time a smaller number of people and inside a building would enhance the experience and help us all. The petition was then presented along with your letters of support and when Patrick left us we asked if we could present it at the gates of the Ram brewery. He also said he would read through the messages of support and in fact he also has logged on to savetheriser.org in the past.

Youngs Pictures up

Pictures of our trip to Young & Co Wandsworth are now up in the gallery.

Please check them out and thanks to everyone who came along!

Epsom Post on Wednesday Afternoon at the Riser

The Epsom Post would like to come to the riser tomorrow to take pictures of as many of you as possible after the Wandsworth outing to Young’s. they love the
pub themselves and we will be there with the banner, poster and t-shirts to welcome them to our boozer.

Please come along at 4 PM if you can. What an afternoon with Save The Riser! Lumbering over to Wandsworth then progressing back to Epsom for pictures with our local paper. Please come and give us your support. Remember, its not just for the people who travelled to Wandsworth so please if you can’t make the trip over to South London, give us your time at 4 PM at the Riser in Epsom

Support from Leeds Student Radio!

Thanks to Leeds Student Radio and Stephen Darke for publicising ‘Save the Riser’ on the LSR blog. Click over for his thoughts on beers and the pub.
This was so good I’ve placed a small extract below.

‘The real beauty of the riser is the knowledge the staff have for the beer they've imported, the enthusiasm they display when presenting you with a previously untried pint, and their love of adventure. The idea that when i return home to Epsom after four years in Leeds i'll be faced with a choice of nothing but waggledance, london, and that weird chocolate flavoured monstrosity upsets me more than you can possibly imagine. I've loved coming home for weekends for the past four years. I've always looked forward to me and tom being sat at the bar, hannah bringing us increasingly bizarre concoctions… If this is no longer the case when Epsom becomes my
hometown again in two weeks it just won't feel like home. It just won't feel like
our riser And i don't know if i'll be able to bring myself to visit..’

Taking our case to Young’s Wednesday 21st June

1000 signatures and Rising – petition and letters of support being presented to Young’s at the Ram Brewery Wednesday. We are gathering outside Wandsworth Town train station at midday and moving to the Brewery with placards and banner for 1.00.


Be there to emphasize our concern and impress on them that we are a resolute bunch with the resources to maintain our campaign.

The latest meeting

As you probably know there was a meeting on Tuesday 13th June between David and Ruth Roberts and representatives of Young’s Brewery to discuss the future of the Rising Sun. For legal reasons we cannot give much detail of this meeting, but the continuation of the Riser in its current form was discussed, along with flexibility on any future changes. This has led to a further meeting arranged for Tuesday 20th June, when hopefully both parties may be able to resolve certain differences.

At this stage it seems that Young’s do not appear to be offering what we are fighting for, i.e. a future with the Roberts at the helm selling the beers we have come to love.

Since this meeting the “Save the Riser" campaign has sought to arrange its own meeting with Young and Co. in order to air its genuine concerns regarding the new landlords plans for the future. To date we have been refused an audience.

We therefore ask everyone to join us to deliver our petition of over a thousand signatures to Young’s head office in Wandsworth on Wednesday 21st June 2006 at 13.00. Perhaps they will then take some notice and realise we are serious about keeping choice at the Riser.

We will circulate details of where to meet, etc, in the next few days.

Please do whatever you have to do to give us some of your valuable time and attend.

OUR CAUSE NEEDS YOU!

Quick Update From Geoff Virgo

“A meaningful discussion took place yesterday between Dave Ruth and Young’s with myself representing STR. The Roberts also had a close family professional friend supporting them. A further meeting has been called for next Tuesday. I would like to discuss the nature of yesterdays meeting and the subsequent evening we had with David and Ruth, with the Steering Group tonight, before we make any public comment. Thank you for your patience”

A Hot Monday Update

The signatures are coming in again after a quiet weekend. I hope it has something to do with the tremendous banner up opposite the pub - I’m told Don and Geoff’s creation looks the business! That will be something for Young’s to have a good look at when they come over to Epsom later this week.

On another encouraging note, we have some potential support on the cards from a great British media organisation and I’d like to thank the gentleman concerned for offering his time. The Epsom Lib Dems have also placed a link and our logo on the front page of their web site and the 3 councillors are behind us, as is our local MP Chris Grayling who has written to Youngs.

We are also dead chuffed to have the backing of John and the local CAMRA branch. Watch out for us at the 7th Kingston Beer Festival to be held on the 23 and 24th of June if anyone would like to volunteer and leaflet for us at this event please e-mail info@savetheriser.org

David Roberts is having some t-shirts printed from the design Paul Burman submitted to us last week, and he’s also plastered them on his car, so well done Paul - your poster makes people who see it smile. Simon has been dropping leaflets all over the place and the good folk from Puccino's on Epsom station have graciously given us permission to put up three leaflets and the poster in the middle of the shop over where the milk and sugar is, so they should get noticed a bit by the many commuters who pass through Epsom each day.

Yet more positive news, the gallery and web page have come on leaps and bounds since Friday, I disappear to Kent for a few hours and the webmaster goes mad. The Happy Chouffe Song! is a welcome addition and makes most people um, happy or somewhat bemused, hum along and read the new timeline section of our page.

Notes from Open Meeting

Dear Friends of the Riser

At short notice we had a pleasant meeting this morning under the new awning in the Riser’s back garden.

The grass was immaculate due to Roger’s efforts and the banner was up, thanks to some very supportive neighbours and a few bits of borrowed timber. Bruce’s skill at hedge cutting with Don and I were banging up the banner was truly a wonder.

The following were my agenda notes so you can see what was covered.

Introduction

Much has happened since we gathered last Saturday – a superb website, leaflet drops, 2 steering group meetings and huge effort to spread our message. I am an exhibitions man – used to deadlines and getting a message over – we are doing it.

There’s a movement now against a proposed Hypermarket, not so long back we prevented the A24 from banging through this area. This issue with the Riser is no less important to the local residents.

The Riser nestles in our community – the huge Flamingo casino hotel in Los Vegas says the same in their blurb, but in this case it’s true. Many of us use the Riser – it is a local facility.

Those neighbours that don’t do pubs should be concerned as to what now might happen. David and Ruth have built up a unique establishment, relaxed and trouble free – will Young’s maintain that?

On the subject of our hosts. This has been a body blow to them – they are reeling but now we have won some extra time. We need David and Ruth to gather their thoughts and prepare themselves for some critical meetings with Young’s next week.

Give Ruth and her staff space. Channel expressions of sympathy and help through the website or with your steering group. You won’t stop Dave openly expanding on all options but try and keep such discussions away from the bar – this is why we are out here (in the garden).

Before introducing a few people that have been working tirelessly in key areas of our campaign I emphasised what we are trying to achieve.

We want to preserve the Status Quo. We are working to influence Young’s and David that it is in their best interests to find a way that keeps the special nature of our Rising Sun.

Contributions then from the following

Jeff spoke on his contact with Young’s and his work reaching many institutions and the Young’s network with his message.

Simon outlined the work of the media group, on their behalf, and that they are primed to act as soon as the direction is more clear – probably after Tuesday.

Dave Williams and Martin Roberts arrived it time to outline progress, the website and for Dave to receive our appreciation of what he’s done. Dave reinforced the need to keep the fight going and to recognise what has been achieved, in particular gaining time from Young’s.

Dave Roberts was grabbed and forced to speak (never difficult), he once again expressed Ruth and his appreciation of what we were doing – and made a convincing pitch to sell his battle bangers.

Then we had John Norman of Camra arrive, having braved the traffic and abandoning his bus to walk much of the way. He was very supportive, fielded many questions and hoped we might use their presence at the Kingston beer fest in a couple of weeks to push our cause. He also drew attention to the link between our site and theirs.

Much more was talked over but I can’t remember it all – we then broke up for a photo shoot under the banner.

Thanks to all those that came, sorry others couldn’t – Tuesday is the next milestone; in the meantime keep the pressure on, contact any person or organisation that may or should be interested. Keep providing material for the website so it stays dynamic.

Geoff Virgo
Chair

10 June 2006

Open Meeting Saturday - Come in Force!!

Dear Fiends of the Riser

Sorry this is a bit rushed but it is important to keep you all informed as best we can.

We had a steering meeting last night and having forgotten to mention those attending last time I had better now. Dave and Helen, Vicki and Paul, Simon, Don, Jeff, Paul and me. Martin who was at the last meet couldn’t make it and Rose deferred to her better half.

Those that have offered to help but have not been contacted I apologise - a tight group and speed is of the essence – I’m sure your services will be called upon later.

The most important matter at present is to give David and Ruth some breathing space. The news to them was a huge knock; however expressions of sympathy and help, how ever well meant, are equally emotionally draining. Please channel your feelings and ideas through the web site or via one of the Steering Group.

An open meeting is planned for Saturday at 10.30 in the back Garden of the Riser, the back gates will be open and directions placed. Try and avoid drawing Ruth or her staff in more than necessary – you can hit (verbally) David if he doesn’t get in first.

Other matters covered
We are arming ourselves with as much knowledge as possible legally and contractually to be ready to talk to Young’s professionally.

Don’s doing a bunch of “T” shirts complete with grease marks.

Waiting approval from neighbours opposite the Riser to get banner up across the houses rather than the difficulties of across the road.

Leaflet being prepared and printed for a wider drop this weekend.

The pot’s filling, nice contribution from Jeff.

I heard from Alf that he is on the case with our MP and Martin tells us we may have a visit from Camera Saturday.

Thanks for reading.

Geoff Virgo
Chair
9th June 2006

"Battle Bangers" on sale in the Riser from this evening!

Sausages with a kick, specially created to Dave's own recipe by award winning butcher James Harries of Woodhatch, Reigate.
Order early to avoid disappointment!

Been around the world with the Rising Sun

What is your favourite bottled beer or imported lager from the Riser? Do you want to know a little more about these breweries?

Just click on through to the Brewery list and take a virtual trip around the world with Savetheriser and remember, our campaign is about keeping choice from around the world in your pub.

Smile say Beer!

Time for a new feature on Savetheriser.org

Check out our fledgling gallery. We would like to enlarge this, so please send in photographs via e-mail and we will add them. We are particularly interested in finding one or some of Hanna in her coconut outfit from last years new-year party.

Pictures of the pub, our gaggle of pub dogs and the regulars are also welcome.

We have received a submission for an alternative poster/t-shirt from Paul Burman and have a section for this type of goodness so thanks for your hard work Paul.

Young's buys five Surrey pubs - Morning Advertiser

London brewer and retailer Young’s has bought five tenanted pubs in Surrey – and
is planning three new riverside-managed pubs in London.
The Surrey pubs are part of the package of 205 Punch sites bought by property magnate Jack Petchey for £98m through his Save Investment Limited subsidiary.
Two of the pubs are in Dorking, with others in Epsom, Bletchingly, and Lingard.

The Campaign for Real Ale in Surrey

Thanks to the Campaign for Real Ale in Surrey for putting the Rising Sun and SaveTheRiser.org onto their website. Your support is invaluable!

A big thank you to SIBA!

Thanks to The Society of Independent Brewers for informing their members through the members section of their site, and giving us coverage!

Want your say?

Please remember to leave comments on the blog. They have to be relevant to the particular news story you are interested in. Just click the comment link and follow the instructions.

We look forward to reading them.

Do we hear sounds of progress?

Jeff Gowlland has communicated with Youngs and it seems they are already hearing of us loud and clear - a little time has been won.

Keep up the good work – spread the word and good luck to Dave and Ruth in their negotiations.

Geoff Virgo Chair

“There is a house in Heathcote Road they call the Rising Sun……”

I’m hearing that perhaps the history of the Riser is less murky than thought. Personally I would be disappointed if the old place hadn’t got a few skeletons.

Any one with information lets hear it.

Geoff Erik Virgo

Simon speaks up for choice

Click the link above to hear one of the Riser regulars on BBC Radio Five Live.

One Man and his Dog

We have just received a particularly moving contribution by Steve Burge and his Guide Dog Lois. This is really worth a read. You can find it in the download section or read an extract from the messages of support section of our pages.

More Support from the USA

Just a quick shout of thanks to the Salt City Brew club for supporting our efforts. America is a big export market for Young’s so your voice is important to us.

Open letter

Dear Friends of the Riser

First I must apologise for any confusion regarding last nights meeting. To speed matters up, for obvious reasons, I short-listed a working group. I do hope those arriving expecting a general meeting were not disappointed and gained consolation from Pilgrim beer.

As you may have seen we have a superb website; special thanks must go to Dave Williams, Dave Rainer and Martin Roberts for the work, outlay, speed and professionalism they have provided.

Monday was a great start to the week (apart from those needing a beer lunchtime), the website up, Dave and Ruth deferring Young’s visit and a huge response from all quarters as can be seen from the site.

The Roberts need a breathing space to gather their thoughts, I am amazed at how well they have stood up to the pressure – we can help by avoiding adding any more.


Meeting
The meeting Monday night was very productive even if a little overshadowed by our celebrity landlord being groomed for Radio 5. I will outline a few matters covered.

The working group consisted of Jeff Gowlland, Don Plumb, Vicki Norgan, Martin Roberts, Simon and Rose and myself with Paul Nott arrive late with gifts. I hope that group will form the basis of further meetings and will provide you all with points of contact.

Martin Roberts is changing his name to avoid accusations of nepotism.

Media
Vicki read the press release being formulated and emphasised that the media group, who meet on Sunday night, was targeting their efforts at local media rather than national. We also read DR’s press release and agreed ours remains good for STR. Much depends on our dialog with Young’s, as can be expected DR’s efforts are taking precedence but our objectives will remain on course.

Leafleting and Posters
Good to see so many up already. A more explanatory version will be produced for those that may not know the Riser of where it is – personally I can’t think who they can be.
A banner is being produced so be careful and duck when walking down Heathcote Road. We will try and get posters up at public places – the Station, newsagents, supermarkets and any Young’s pubs – the latter may not qualify as public though.

People to contact
We can all make our feeling felt with our local councillors, I will also communicate with them and the local police as STR. We are in touch with our MP but again no reason why individuals shouldn’t have a go. Jeff is making contact with the Risers business customers and social groups; we have a great response from Atkins.

Page 2


Fund Raising
It was agreed that Rose was the only one of us trustworthy enough to hold funds, donations have been promised and details of how you may contribute will go up on the site. The only matter of dispute was between Vicki who wanted any balance to go to charity and Don who wanted to drink it.

Young’s
Yes they deserve a mention! As I said above the Monday visitation was postponed maybe that will affect Wednesday – we can only try and keep you informed as soon as we hear and that will be via DR. Jeff has made contact with them and waiting a response to a request for a meeting. We also appear to have some strong individual connections with people at the top of Young’s.

Our present course with Young’s is one of seeking dialog – if that fails more aggressive action will come about.

Conclusion
The next meeting was planned for Wednesday but is subject to any moves from Young’s. We are all in close contact and able to move very quickly.

I’m sure I’ve made omissions, please post up any contributions on the site and keep up the effort - it will influence the outcome.



Geoff Virgo
Chair

New downloads

Good day all

Another busy day in our fight for consumer freedom of choice and the morally good treatment of people by a large traditionally family based company who will soon be moving from the countried oldest brewery and decanting to Bedford.

This is just a quick note to say the downloads section has just been updated with the Meeting Minutes for the 3rd June, plus an open letter to Youngs. After our working group meet last night. I’m sure you’ll agree, we are making tangible progress considering people are giving free time and we’re really still finding our feet.
Please download and let us know what you think.

A Good Beer Blog

Thanks to the good folks over at http://beerblog.genx40.com for the links and coverage.

Simon from STR talks to BBC Five Live!

Choice being at the heart of the pub trade and local communities was explored on the BBC Radio Five Live Anita Anand show, Monday 5 June.

Listen to the entire show on the BBC site using the link above.

Audio clip here soon.

Stay tuned to the Savetheriser.org site and this blog for the very latest campaign news.

Thanks but there is much still to do!

We would like to thank everyone for the support given so far. We have a news story up on the British Guild of beer writers web page and so many other people are hitting our embryonic web presents. This page hasn’t even been online for 24 hours yet and we are loving your e-mails and encouragement. Keep it coming and please spread the word!

This will get better with time, so please check back for some smashing new features to be online over the next day or so. We already have contributions to be added to these pages and some interesting plans. Our web team are doing a cracking job

Please, if you haven’t do sign our petition, it all helps and we really appreciate it.

Remember, our little group is independent of the rising Sun landlord and lady, we are a community battling against uniformity and wishing to retain individuality. We will keep people updated on this news blog.

End of an era?

So, this is it. The end of an era. Or so it would seem...

The Rising Sun in Epsom, a place so close to our hearts and minds is about to enter the ethereal realms of history.

So why is this place so beloved of it's creators and patrons? Is it the beer? is it the atmosphere? is it the warmth and tolerant sphere of influence that Ruth and Dave have created?

Perhaps it is one or all of these things. Perhaps it is none. What is apparent is that they have created a unique and very particular style of local pub that is welcoming and friendly to everyone who is willing to be a part of an open minded group of individuals who love beer, independence, variation and quirkiness.

We don't want static chain beers that are available elsewhere in Epsom. We want to be able to have a choice and enjoy a beer from Belgium, Germany, the USA, France, the UK, as long as they are fine and well made.

Dave Roberts brews excellent beer. More importantly he knows what great beer is and will go to great lengths to bring it to the riser. That is the difference. That is what we are fighting for.

To enjoy quality produce from a local producer and diversity from his knowledge of global beers and brewers.

We have to fight to keep this independence of spirit otherwise it will break our community spirit, of which the riser is the heart.