For those of you out there who have ever played at or been to The Station pub in Ashton you’ll be aware of a rather remarkable woman called Pauline Town. She is the manager of the pub and an avid supporter of helping homeless people, feeding the needy and supporting those people that may need that little bit of help to get their lives back on track. The Station also puts on many a gig which they rely heavily on to support the work that she does. She must work about 26 hours a day!!! Here, via the means of Facebook messenger, we have a chat with her and discover what drives her to do what she does.
DLW: How long have you been at The Station?
Pauline: We’ve been here for 15 years this month.
DLW: Have you always managed the pub or did you start off behind the bar?
Pauline: I’ve always managed The Station, but before here I was at The Witchwood and started there as a glass collector when I was 17, then was trained up on the bar and became licensee when I was 21 - I managed there till 14 years ago, so for the first year we were here, I was running both pubs.
DLW:The pub often has gigs out on, these must be a god send?
Pauline: The gigs are absolutely a god send - not just for the pub itself, but also as the way we raise the funds to do all the community work here for We Shall Overcome.
DLW: Could the pub survive without live music?
Pauline: We actually only just about run at a break even normally and that's WITH the live music - without it, we are dead in the water. Apart from the fact that I am not confident in trying to open this soon because keeping my team and my customers safe is the most important thing to me, like so many other grass roots live music venues and music pubs, we just can't open without it.
DLW: How long have you been involved with WSO?
Pauline: Since right at the start five years ago - we are now in our sixth year.
DLW: To those that don't know, what is WSO?
Pauline: We Shall Overcome is a pro community and anti austerity movement that began as a musical protest aimed at supporting the people who need help the most. Each town or city where WSO is active has volunteers organising gigs and events to raise funds for their own community - we always say it is solidarity, not charity. WSO has supported so many causes and initiatives on the front line where it is needed most , whether that be food banks, hostels and shelters, youth groups or refugees - you name it and if there is a need, we will try to help!
DLW: Describe a typical day for Pauline Town?
Pauline: There’s not really any such thing as a typical day at the moment, because we are responding to emergencies and crises as they arise. In general though, I am up and about at about 6am, walking our old dog Greg, then back and getting stuck in making up the packed lunches and food parcels ready for the day. Those are going out to the homeless men and women who come each day for support as well as people who are struggling with food poverty and also with deliveries out to people who are shielding or who are isolated and struggling because of mental health issues. We open at noon and then I am on the front line for the afternoon, but we also work alongside statutory services, so the RSI and Housing First key workers often meet service users here too in the beer garden at the moment. We are giving the food out, offering support and advice and making calls to help people into shelter or other help through till teatime. Then it's another quick dog walk, grab a brew and catch up with admin, social media, promo and do any shopping needed for the next day. I'm usually done anywhere between 9pm and midnight depending on how many problems have hit on a given day - then it's a quick half hour with a good book and listen to some tunes, then grab some kip ready to go again in the morning!
DLW: How many local companies help by giving donations?
Pauline: We do have some local companies that help, but we also have a really strong network with other charities and community groups, if any of us have surplus of anything or receive a big donation, then we all share. The local churches also support us so much and so do so many individuals who just want to help. At the minute we are also getting support from the local council because we have been working as a critical crisis hub right through this and are all classed as essential key workers.
DLW: I know you do a lot for helping the homeless with feeding and getting a roof over their heads, what other (if any) charitable work do you do?
Pauline: At the minute as well as the work with the homeless lads and lasses, we are doing deliveries to people who are isolating or shielding and who have no family to support them, some of who are our regulars when we are open. We also do a lot of work with people suffering from mental health issues, families struggling with food poverty and a lot with people who have learning impairment or other problems and who are struggling to access support during the lock down. We're feeding between 70 and 80 a day from the door and delivered to the night shelter, but then with the food parcels and those deliveries too, we're probably feeding an additional 30 a week. We're also supporting a local charity who are helping veterans and provide fresh fruit bags for them too. We also do doggy packed lunches every day for people struggling to keep their four legged mates fed! We're still housing people too - and working with our local Rough Sleepers teams to help the guys they are moving on with start up packs too.
DLW: You must get a great deal of satisfaction doing what you do?
Pauline: I get a great deal of satisfaction from the work I do, but it's a huge responsibility too and sometimes it does get to the point where I feel like I'm pushing a snowball up a mountain. Having said that, when you feed someone who hasn't eaten for days, or you hand a guy a key to a new home of his own - then absolutely you feel like you've really made a difference.
DLW: I can imagine you get close to the people you help?
Pauline: Very much so - a lot of them have become real friends and I care about them all. I don't judge any of them and I don't try to "fix them" - but when you build up the trust, then you do really end up with a real bond with them. That's a real double edged sword at times though - last week we had a couple of deaths and that has devastated me personally.
DLW: Surely you must have people helping you?
Pauline: I have an incredible team of regular volunteers and they are among my closest friends now - we've worked under so much pressure for months now and we've shared the ups as well as the downs! All the outreach teams and charities are working together too, which means we are all supporting each other so much. I absolutely could not do this alone. I also have incredible support from the rest of the WSO gang, especially Joe, Matt and Pete who have my back all the time and really are my brothers. My family really do support me too - at the minute I have no money coming in personally, so they are making sure that I have food and can pay my bills.
DLW: I know you've received some (well deserved) awards. Do you feel honoured to receive them?
Pauline: I’m really conflicted about awards to be honest - I am very touched that people nominate me, but it's kind of oxymoronic to receive awards for something that shouldn't be needed if that makes sense? The Pride of Manchester one was special because a load of my homeless lads put in nominations for me for that and were so chuffed about it and I loved the Wigan Diggers one too because of the history of that one. I was also honoured to be awarded the Mental Health Champion one, because again, it was members of the groups we run here under normal circumstances who put in that nomination and they were so excited when I won it. In general though, I'd much rather there wasn't a need in the first place for any of the work I am doing.
DLW: How badly has the current lockdown restrictions affected what you do?
Pauline: It's massively altered everything we are doing - the pub is closed and I have no idea when we will be able to open - that is all dependent on us being able to put live bands back on, so the uncertainty is a real killer. While we have been closed though and operating as a crisis hub, we've actually been busier than I've ever been in my life - the need is growing every day and I honestly don't see an end to that any time soon.
DLW: You must be looking forward to opening again and getting punters back in and having more gigs take place?
Pauline: I would love to be able to open, but I won't do that till I'm confident we can do it safely and right now I honestly think it's too soon - particularly here because the layout of the pub makes social distancing a real nightmare - I've been a barmaid for more than 30 years and involved with live music through all that time. I so, so miss live music, my regulars and the pub being open. I don't know how long this is going to go on for, but I will be over the moon when we can open for our first gig! I'm actually plotting with Dave Fungalpunk and the first one will be one of his, whenever we can make that happen!
DLW: Finally, if you could ask Pauline Town one question, what would it be? Â
Pauline: I ask it every day - did you make a difference today? As long as I can answer yes, then I'll keep fighting! xxx
Words: DLW
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