Community-run West Sussex village pub celebrates winning top award
Locals who launched an SOS campaign to save their village pub are delighted after it scooped a coveted CAMRA award.
The community-run pub, The Sportsman in Amberley, has been crowned CAMRA’s local branch pub of the year 2026.
Determined locals rallied to save their much-loved pub when the previous tenants bowed out in 2024 and the freehold was put up for sale. Set in a beautiful rural location with stunning views over RSPB Pulborough Brooks, there were fears it would be sold off and converted into a private dwelling.
So the locals, spearheaded by pub regular and real ale fan Roger Agate, came up with the SOS (Save Our Sportsman) campaign. Just three months after closing, with volunteers sprucing the place up and manning the bar, the doors were once again thrown open.
While running the pub as tenants of the existing freeholder, the team have been driving the campaign to raise £780,000 to buy the freehold to assure the long-term security of the pub. Two years on, through the sale of £500 shares to the community and a few loans from local people, they’re just £140,000 away from their target.
The iconic pub is now transformed into a thriving, popular heart of the community, with home cooked food and a variety of regular events such as open mic nights, quiz nights, babies and pensioners mornings, and classic car meets.
Birdwatchers travel to The Sportsman to catch a glimpse of a pair of famed white-tailed sea eagles (the UK’s largest birds of prey, which can have a wingspan of up to 2.5 metres and were extinct in the 20th century) who’ve made their home in the brooks.
Roger, who lives in Amberley, says: “This has been a huge baptism of fire for the committee but with the help of our business manager Jo who we’ve employed, we’ve well and truly put The Sportsman back on the map.
“We were delighted this year to see the pub return to the prestigious CAMRA Good Beer Guide, after a 20-year absence. Then we heard it’s been voted the local branch pub of the year. This award recognises many aspects of the pub’s offering beyond just the rotating selection of local cask and keg beer on offer, including welcome and service, pub cleanliness and community focus. We still have a way to go and would love to hear from any potential shareholders.”
To celebrate, the pub is hosting one of its popular beer festivals from 26-29 March.