By Romy Stephens
New owners of the Paradise Valley Hotel in Clematis haven’t let Covid-19 dampen their spirits.
Despite suffering a hit to the business they took over only six months ago, Joe Durrant, Mark Protheroe and Steven Nelson still have their eyes set on becoming an intrinsic part of the local community.
That’s part of the reason why they’ve started up an initiative called Idle Hands.
Idle Hands sees free meals delivered to community members in need every Wednesday.
The ready to heat-and-eat meals are delivered in recyclable packaging and community members can either nominate themselves or someone they know, with permission.
Mr Protheroe said the initiative wouldn’t have been possible without community and government support.
“Once the Government announced the JobKeeper subsidy that was a game changer for us,” he said.
“We were in a position where our future was somewhat secure.
“It gave us the opportunity to move our thoughts about business continuity to giving back to the community because they helped us a lot in the first few weeks.”
The Paradise Valley Hotel has been running since the early 1900s.
Mr Protheroe and his business partners took over the business in August last year.
“The idea was to take on a historically-located pub and focus on food and beverage with a leaning towards local produce,” Mr Protheroe explained.
He added that a major aim of the business was to insert itself into the community as a place locals could enjoy.
“When we took up this pub we wanted to make the community proud of their pub again,” Mr Protheroe said.
“The community is a massive aspect to the pub and that’s what has always driven us to hospitality.”
After a tidy up and some renovations, the trio opened the hotel in September last year before being forced to close recently due to Covid-19.
But they have since created the Idle Hands initiative and a takeaway menu to keep business flowing.
“It feels great that we’ve been able to get ourselves into this position with the help of government and community support, we couldn’t be here without the community,” Mr Protheroe said.
To view the Paradise Valley Hotel takeaway menu, visit www.paradisevalleyhotel.com and for the latest specials, visit the hotel’s Facebook page.
