Rebecca - landlord of the Oddfellows arms

The landlord of a pub in Eccles has praised the community for their support after the venue was recently targeted by vandalism.

The Oddfellows Arms, on Church Street, was re-opened in January by landlord Rebecca Smith, who set out to bring the community together and restore the pub’s reputation.

Rebecca, who has been in the hospitality industry for just over a year, took on the Eccles pub as her second relaunch project and was excited for the challenge.

However, despite the success and progress made since the reopening, the pub has recently been hit by two incidents of vandalism.

Rebecca said: Recently we have had battles with vandalism, spray painting the pub – and I am not sure why we are being targeted.”

Vandalism done to the Oddfellows Arms this summer

One incident occurred in May, and the more recent attack was in July, as Rebecca continued: “It has happened twice, and these are the first incidents I have experienced since taking over the pub.”

And with the pubs history, experiencing flaming bottles and a brick were hurled through the window in October 2024, these incidents haven’t deterred Rebecca but instead motivating her to keep going.

“I don’t want to run away from this. It is making me feel the opposite, I don’t want to shy away – it is making me more determined,” she said.

And this is due to the support she has received from the local community, as she continued: “We have seen a great response from the community; they were able to help us paint it – as staff were painting and some locals were jumping into help.

“Locals were walking by and wanted to help, and the first moment someone took the paint roller off the staff, I just knew there was a true community spirit surrounding the pub.”

Rebecca continued to praise the local residents for the support, as she added: “The community response is making me want to stay. It was really nice and for me it was like something in a TV show, but it was actually my pub.

“All the worries and the fears I had with the vandalism and the pub just instantly melted away.”

She added: “Seeing people help to fix the vandalism shows that community are standing together and willing to help, so hopefully that will act as a deterrent to prevent people doing it again.

Community painted over the vandalism of the pub
Community painted over the vandalism of the pub

“Eccles is struggling as it is, since the shopping centre has disappeared – we should want to look after what we have got and not be the problem.”

Rebecca continued: “But seeing the reaction from the community it shows that action can speak louder than words – they didn’t need to say anything.

“It lifted the weight off my shoulders as before it felt like I was dealing with it on my own, but it turned into a moment of ‘we are doing this together.”

And this community spirit is something she wanted to create when taking over the pub as the landlord in January, and it is something she believes has been achieved.

“Since taking over the pub in January, we have been able to make a lot of improvements in cleaning up the pub and rebuilding its reputation.

“The positive atmosphere has welcomed a lot of the old locals into the pub, as they feel more comfortable coming in.”

And this comfortability and positive atmosphere for The Oddfellows Arms has come from Rebecca’s focus on maintaining standards.

She added: “We have been consistent with the rules of the licensing and consistent with the boundaries we have set surrounding drugs, but we have a zero-tolerance policy.

Rebecca’s family outside the Oddfellows Arms

“I have my kids here at the pub and with me, so when I say zero tolerance, I mean it, it doesn’t matter who you are even if you’re a regular customer – you are out.

“And the feedback from the customers has been amazing, and they are telling me they appreciate it – to me it’s their pub I just run it.”

And these efforts have been made to help put a focus on the pub becoming a welcoming hub in the community.

Rebecca continued: “We are putting a focus on families, which hasn’t been something the pub has struggled with before.

“We want to make it family-friendly, as we are the pub in the middle of the street and we want to welcome everyone – it is slowly working but we just need that extra push.”

This extra push will be seen this weekend when the pub hosts their first family fun day – welcoming children into the pub.

Family fun day being hosted at the Oddfellows Arms

And this push will be seen at the Oddfellows Arms as they will host their first family fun-day on Saturday 16 August, starting from 12pm.

The free event will offer a chance for families to come to the pub and enjoy a variety of activities – with all proceeds going to Walking with the Wounded. 

Rebecca continued: “We will have activities outside the front, inside, and in the beer garden.

“We want families to be a part of this pub – and there will be a lot on offer to get them all involved. It should be a really good day.

“Turning the negative things into positives, will show everyone that we are still open, we are standing together, and nothing is going to phase us.”

The event will start at 12pm on Saturday 16 August – with the Oddfellows Arms being found on Church Street.

More information about the event can be found here.

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