The Victoria Inn in East Lothian has been crowned best in Scotland for its community work at the PubAid Community Pub Hero Awards. 

The Victoria Inn was nominated by Paul McLennan MSP for East Lothian, member of the Scottish National Party and Housing Minister, to compete in the Community Sport Hero for Scotland category.

The PubAid Community Sport Hero Award recognises pubs which support grassroots sport in their communities or brings the community together via sporting events.

Pubs contribute over £40m each year to community sport. From kits, to sponsorship to hosting events the awards recognise pubs that showcase the important role pubs play to the health and wellbeing of their community.

The pub won for its support of multiple local sports clubs including Haddington Women’s Hockey Club and Haddington Athletic and its landlord Craig Douglas was particularly highlighted for his passion for sports clubs in the community.

Craig Douglas at The Victoria Inn: “I was nominated for this, so it was a great honour. I’ve supported community sports for a long time from kids football and kids rugby to kids ice hockey as well as women in sport which is really important in our community. We’re in a small town and everyone supports us a lot. It’s a great honour to come to the House of Commons. It’s just fantastic. Win, lose or draw, we’re all winners. The last three to four years have been tough, so to get an award and have someone say well done and be noticed, it means a lot.” 

Paul McLennan MSP, said: “The Victoria Inn is a great example of the incredible community spirit that you find throughout East Lothian. It is good to recognise those who help to make sport accessible to all and Craig Douglas is part of a much wider group of people who are doing their best in their local community to make this happen. It’s not always possible to thank everyone, but it is possible to shine a light on a local pub that is helping to make a positive impact on the community they are so proud to be part of.  

The Victoria Inn was crowned at a prestigious award ceremony, sponsored by Matthew Clark, at the Houses of Parliament on 4 March. Craig Douglas and Murray McDonald from The Victoria Inn attended, along with industry leaders and MPs. 

Des O’Flanagan, co-founder of PubAid, added: “The Community Pub Hero Awards highlight all the wonderful and invaluable work publicans do for their local communities and it’s heart-warming that pubs raise so much money for local and national charities. The standard or entry this year has been extremely high as many pubs continue to raise the bar when it comes to supporting their community so the Victoria Inn should be extremely proud of what they have achieved to be crowned the winner.”
PubAid, which organises the awards in association with Matthew Clark and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, is the positive voice for UK pubs.