The Honest John Fire Support Fund

In the early hours of Saturday morning, we had a fire. Luckily, the actual fire was contained to the old banks strong room.

The room was our dry store room which housed stock, equipment, fridges and freezers. Everything in that room is not salvageable.

There was also a substantial amount of smoke and water damage to our kitchen and toilets.

Having spoken to a loss assessor, they estimate it could take 3-6 months before we can reopen. On top of this, we have now discovered that we are not insured for staff salaries. We have taken out a personal loan in order to pay our wonderful staff whilst we are closed but we simply don't know how long this will last for.

Anyone who knows myself and Alison know that The Honest John is our life. Every penny we make goes back into the business. We don't do this for the money, if we did, we would have got out a long time ago. We do it because of what our little bar/restaurant brings to Todmorden. We have created a safe and welcoming space for young, old, LGBTQIA+ and various community groups to use and enjoy.

We are one of the few places in Todmorden open 7 days a week. We employ a fantastic group of people, most of them have been with us for some time. Having read all the comments, messages and emails, it's apparent that The Honest John means just as much to you, our customers, as it does to us and our team.

If you feel you would like to help us with paying our team, you can donate here but only if/what you can afford. Every penny donated will go towards our teams salaries and would be very much appreciated.

We look forward to welcoming you all back to The Honest John as soon as possible.