Marston’s and Paddy McGuinness teamed up on a search to find the UK’s smartest pub, which culminated in an afternoon of celebrations on Wednesday at the Weaver’s Whistle, where Paddy congratulated the winners, presented their chosen charities with their prizes and poured them a well-earned drink.
From May 1 until May 22, weekly quizzes took place in over 200 Marston’s pubs across the UK, with one site each week being crowned as the Smartest Pub in the UK. The brainiest pubs each won £1,000 from Marston’s Charitable Foundation, to donate to a local cause or project close to their hearts.
The Green Lady in Caerphilly, Wales, took the title of Smartest Pub in the first week of the quiz and nominated Disability Can Do as their chosen charity to receive the prize donation.
Disability Can Do supports people who have a disability, impairment or long-term health issue, as well as their carers, providing users with the tools they need to enrich their lives.
The second week saw The Queen’s Head in Bromsgrove, West Midlands, crowned the brainiest of the week. The pub chose Birmingham Children’s Hospital to receive the donation from Marston’s Charitable Foundation.
Donations to Birmingham Children’s Hospital are put towards innovation and research, new technology and equipment, improving the hospital environment and creating positive experiences for their over 100,000 patients and their families.
The Cricketers Inn in Easton, Hampshire, was the next to be named the smartest pub and directed their prize donation to St Mary’s Church in Easton, a Grade I listed building, which dates back to the 12th Century.
The donation will go towards essential repair work to fix and restore the church’s roof, ensuring the building remains a safe community hub.
The Black Diamond in Worksop, East Midlands, won the title of smartest pub in the final week of the quiz. Their grant went to the Remember Rich Rice Charity, which was set up by two of the pub’s regulars in honour of their son, who passed away.
The Charity raises funds to direct towards meaningful local causes. This Summer, the Black Diamond will host a music festival to raise even more donations for the Foundation.
Paddy also presented the overall winner of the quiz, Andy Taylor, with his £5,000 cash prize. Andy played Marston’s Big Pub Quiz each week at his local, the Red Lion in Parbold in Wigan.
Voice of the Marston’s Big Pub Quiz, Paddy McGuinness, said: “Any afternoon spent in the pub is a good one, but this one was even more special. It was fantastic to meet the teams from the smartest pubs and their chosen charities and hear all about the amazing work they’re doing in their communities.
“I also presented Andy Taylor, the overall winner of the quiz, with the grand prize. Andy is from Wigan, which is just down the road from me, so I was very proud to hand his winnings over to him.
"Pubs really are at the heart of their communities, and I grew up in them with my family, so it has been an absolute pleasure to be involved and play a part in bringing people together for Marston’s Big Pub Quiz.”
Claire Robertson, Director of Operations at Marston’s, said: “It’s been fantastic to see so many people head down to their locals and get involved in the Big Pub Quiz over the last couple of months. Getting all of our winners together in one place to celebrate was really important to us and we’re delighted that they got the chance to meet Paddy and be congratulated in person.
“Each of our smartest pubs have picked brilliant community projects to donate their winnings to, and we’re very proud that we’re able to support them through the Marston’s Charitable Foundation.”