A BASINGSTOKE pub landlord has been presented with his prize after he was named a community hero in a national competition.

Richard Curtis and The Portsmouth Arms in Hatch Warren won the top gong in the Community Pub Hero Awards, organised by PubAid and the All Party Parliamentary Beer Group, after he broke a world record for the longest pub quiz, all in aid of charity.

The pub was named joint winner alongside The Horse & Jockey in Merseyside, with both receiving a £500 donation from Matthew Clark to donate to a charity of their choice.

The Community Pub Hero Awards were created to recognise the great work done by pubs since the first Covid lockdown in March last year, and reward those landlords and landladies who have gone above and beyond to support their local communities, despite often facing uncertainty themselves.

Rich was presented his award by Basingstoke MP Maria Miller on Friday, and said: “We are delighted and surprised to win such an award. Reading through some of the entries, we were honoured to even be amongst such amazing and generous pubs.

“Our purpose at Hall and Woodhouse is to make people’s day and to enrich our communities from generation to generation. Just because our doors were closed, I felt we could still achieve this.

“The way we brought the community together is still felt today and the thing I’m most proud of throughout this whole journey."

Rich started streaming pub quizzes on Facebook live once he had to close during the Covid lockdown.

The response was enthusiastic and soon the quiz was running twice a day: a family-friendly one at 5pm – staged with help from Rich’s 9-year-old son Oliver - and one for adults at 8pm. Participants could join for free, but were asked to make a donation to a charity, chosen by the pub and changing every week.

Within a few weeks, the quizzes had raised more than £9,000 for charity and attracted players not just in the UK but around the world. Every week, Rich came up with a new theme for the quiz to keep it fresh, and had a few star guests.

In May last year, Rich broke the Guinness World Record for the world’s longest quiz master session, completing a 34-hour, 50-minute quiz which raised more than £21,000 for The Pink Place Cancer Charity.

In total, The Portsmouth Arms quizzes have raised £66,500 for charities.

Nationwide, 115 pubs entered the Community Pub Hero Awards, many of them nominated by their local MP. Entries were judged by a panel of industry experts and a shortlist of 10 finalist pubs was announced earlier this year.