Northampton pub continues to show community support through free hot drinks initiative this winter
A Northampton pub is continuing to show its support to the community by offering free hot drinks everyday this winter.
The Longboat Pub, in Eastfield Road, was taken over by Frazer and Hayley Francis in August 2023.
Frazer ran pubs before and took a step back around a year before the pandemic, but expressed interest in being made aware of any Northampton pubs that were available to take over in the future.
It was a few years later when he was informed about the refurbishment of The Longboat and Frazer’s wife Hayley encouraged him to go for his dream – as they would run the business as a family and make it work.
“We wanted to create an atmosphere suitable for someone who was six months old or someone who was 96,” said Frazer, who was adamant on making the venue family-friendly and the centre of the community.
The landlord believes it is the safe environment they have created, and the fact the pub looks very different from years prior, that customers like most. The Longboat now has a rejuvenated reputation and welcomes anyone and everyone through the doors.
Frazer said 2024, which was their first full year in business, was “very positive” and they look forward to building on their success as time goes on.
One initiative that has gone down well is free hot drinks available between the hours of 12pm and 2pm seven days a week, to help the community with the financial crunch of the cost of living this winter.
The Longboat also prides itself on welcoming people if they need somewhere warm to relax, with no obligation to purchase a drink.
“It came off the back of a conversation we heard from one of our older regulars,” said Frazer. “They said it would be cheaper to sit in the pub than at home, and it escalated from there.”
Soup has now also been added to the offering, as one of their regulars kindly offered his chef services. This was much appreciated as the initiative has picked up in January.
“It has pulled everyone together,” Frazer continued. “We’ve had donations from the local community to support and push it, and they work with us to help those struggling. It’s made a massive difference.”
Another new addition to The Longboat is the fact they welcome a range of food vendors to pitch up free of charge, as the pub no longer serves food like it used to a long time ago.
The landlord said: “The brewery we run the business for is wet-led, so we reached out to local vendors to pitch up one night a week with no pitch fee.”
The hope was to support their businesses while also giving customers the option for food that they could not offer. The Flavour Trailer visits on Thursdays, The Munch Hut on Fridays and Bangkok Street Food on Saturdays.
Frazer and Hayley hope to continue as they started at The Longboat, by putting on initiatives, events and fundraisers that will benefit the local community throughout 2025.
The pair try not to overcomplicate their offering, by providing the basics but doing them well, and will continue with exciting music, entertainment and sport.