The Polwarth Tavern, Edinburgh has won an influential award at the PubAid’s Community Pub Hero Awards 2025.

Ben and Vicki Prowse from the pub were at the ceremony in the Houses of Commons to accept the award for being the best  Community Support Hero, Scotland alongside local MP Ian Murray who nominated them for the award. 

The pub saw competition from almost 700 entries nationwide for the prestigious pub industry awards, now in their sixth year. 

On winning the award, Ben Prowse said: “Our MP nominated us. I lost my best friend and business partner who had a heart attack so we put a defibrillator in and this award is a nod to all the people who put into our fundraising for that. It wasn’t just me, it was all of us. I have a really good gang.” 

This Community Support Hero Scotland Award recognises licensees who help their communities and pubs who are good neighbours to their local community. One other finalist in Scotland, The Station Bar, Alness also made it through to the finals. 

The pub won because the judges were impressed by the community spirit after they were left mourning from the sudden passing of one of the original co-owers of The Polwarth Tavern, Alan Laidlaw. He was well-loved, larger-than-life and prominent within the local community. After his heart attack the community came together to raise money for a community defibrillator.

MP Ian Murray added: “I’m absolutely delighted that the Polwarth Tavern has won this award. This is fantastic news for Ben, the team and their regulars, who came together in the face of tragedy to provide a life-saving resource for the Polwarth community. I can’t think of a more deserving recipient.”

The fundraising campaign was a heartfelt effort that saw the entire community come together. Customers, neighbours and local businesses all chipped in to contribute to this shared resource. The response was overwhelmingly positive, with people recognising the importance of having this life-saving device readily available in such a central location. The pub has also teamed up with St John Scotland to provide free CPR and defibrillator training sessions for Polwarth residents.

The winners were announced at an award ceremony, sponsored by Matthew Clark, at the Houses of Parliament on 4 March and all shortlisted pubs were invited to attend along with industry leaders and MPs. 

Des O’Flanagan, co-founder of PubAid, said: “We launched these awards to celebrate the great work that pubs do for their community. Polwarth Tavern is a perfect example of how pubs and licensed premises support and are a hub for many people in their community. The awards are in their fifth year and the volume of entries this year was staggering. What clearly came across from reading all the entries is that there are so many people that are doing amazing work nationwide. It was very hard to get to a shortlist so even getting to the finals is an amazing accolade for Polwarth Tavern.”