Community ownership of a beloved inn is on the horizon as another significant milestone was made.

The group behind the Save Our Samson Inn campaign said that a surge in funding this month means they are well on their way to getting to where they need.

Residents in Gilsland, a village that straddles the border of Cumbria and Northumberland, have been fighting since late last year to bring the Samson Inn, their local pub, back to life.

They are preparing to apply to the Community Ownership Fund which will pay a portion of the agreed price - £295,000 – if the group can prove that there is a strong backing for it.

To do this, they appealed to the public to make pledges for shares, and ideally they will have reached half of the agreed price by Jan 31.

As it stands, they’re currently at around 35 per cent of the agreed price, and if pledges keep coming they feel confident their dreams will come true.

The share pledge is open to everyone aged 18 and over to support the campaign.

It was launched on December 7 and more than £30,000 was raised in three days by 60 people, before reaching £68,000 at Christmas. 

Jane McDaid, chair of GCBSL, said as of January 2, £81,000 has been raised in share pledges towards the minimum of £130,000 needed before the GCBSL can apply for funding.

A 'beer-o-meter' has been created to display the total amount raised. 

Partly thanks to an article in The Cumberland News earlier this month, the pledges have been rolling, as Jane said: “Since the story was on the front page on January 5, when we were at £80,000, we’ve managed to get to £120,000 today in share pledges, The Cumberland News has made a huge difference to the fund.

“This is from over 310 separate pledges which is phenomenal because most community pubs get around 200 pledges.

“The community wants to take the pub back, and this has given us a huge boost, and we are thrilled with the result.

“Now we stand a much better chance in the application process; by pledging, you make it much more likely that the pub will reopen this year.”