Pub plans fundraiser for 120th birthday

A pub is marking its 120th birthday with a series of fundraising events.

The Royal Oak in Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton, has arranged a darts marathon, a 120-mile motorbike ride, a 12-mile walk, a 20-mile cycle ride and a 5km run for Saturday morning.

Afterwards, landlord Terry Cole said everyone would return to the pub for a "very large party".

He said the fundraising would be in aid of the Midlands Freewheelers Blood Bikers, who he said were "a massive part of our community".

He explained the pub was founded in 1841, but the birthday marked the 120th anniversary of the current building.

To mark the event, he said he had also put together a collection of photos of the pub, including some from the early years.

The fundraising activities are due to start at 08:00 BST and end with the 5km run, just before Wolverhampton's Pride event in West Park.

Cole, who has been the landlord for two decades, said: "It's a tough time for pubs but you've got to find some sort of positivity and I thought we'd do this."

He is membership secretary for the Blood Bikers group and he said: "The guys out riding take a lot of pride in knowing they've done a good job for people, especially when it's for sick children."

The charity needs £1,500 a week to run its fleet and he said one of its bikes had been bought by a previous Royal Oak fundraising effort.

But he said the day was also about celebrating the community which had supported the pub through the years.

"It's our community that's put us where we are," he said.

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