The Portland Inn Project CIC (PIPCIC) is a creative arts project for a community in Stoke On Trent with an aim to achieve community cohesion, economic, social and cultural development by involving the community in development of a pioneering community space, cultural hub and social enterprise.
PIPCIC runs from the heart of a residential area, home to a diverse community that is largely made up of families who have a deeprooted history of living and working in the area, including cultures from all over the world. Since transferring the disused pub into community ownership in 2016, the community interest company has worked with residents to shape how it serves families in the Portland Street triangle. PIP’s deeply embedded, progressive approach has helped to deliver a collaborative architectural plan and raise significant funding for a pioneering cultural space in the neighbourhood, the first of its kind in the city.
“We see the building as a demonstrator for a wider neighbourhood renewal, and aim to bring lasting change to our area through the work we do together as a community.
Where the derelict pub building had become a symbol of neglect, collectively we have turned this around; it is now a symbol of hope for the neighbourhood.”
