A MICROBREWERY, set up to help former prisoners adjust to life on the outside, is to take over a closed down city pub.

The Tap Social Movement, which is based in North Hinksey, this week announced it would next month be taking over the White House pub on Abingdon Road

The craft brewery won’t be opening the pub until the spring but the team are organising an outdoor Christmas market next month to introduce themselves to the neighbourhood.

Tess Taylor, co-founder and director of Tap Social Movement, said: “We’ve been really interested in a second venue for a long time."

She added: "The White House is perfectly situated near the city centre, the colleges and schools."

Tap Social approached the landlord, Brasenose College, about the let and according to the director, they were ‘amazing and very helpful’.

The pub, which is also a Grade 2-listed building, closed in September this year, but is now undergoing minor renovations to accommodate the new tenants.

Alongside their award-winning beers, Ms Taylor revealed they are opening their first kitchen.

The team have enlisted the help of Heather O’Connor, a culinary school graduate from Toronto, Canada, who will be training the new kitchen staff.

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Ms O’Connor will be coming up with the menu, which will offer locally-grown, seasonal and sustainable dishes.

The second venue will create a number of jobs and potential for training, which, is really important to the team, the co-founder explained.

Tap Social Movement was founded in 2016 and their original site is based on the Curtis Industrial Estate.

The venue not only serves as a craft brewery but also as a community space, where people, who have recently been released from prison or are currently serving sentences, are employed.

Since the closure of the White House, Abingdon Road residents have complained about the loss of the pub.

After Tap Social announced the reopening on Tuesday, their facebook post received hundreds of welcoming comments.

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One user, Nik Torrens, wrote: “Great news! That’s the best thing to happen in Oxford for a while in regards to pubs and that area really needs this! Hope it all goes well!”

Ms Taylor said: “We are very lucky with the community around us and the local following.

“A few of us recently moved to the area and we really noticed the lack of good local pubs.

“It’s really humbling to see hundreds of positive responses under our facebook announcement.”

The outside of the pub will remain the same but the Tap Social team will redecorate in the same style as their Botley site.

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Ms Taylor said the team were looking forward to meeting the local community at their Christmas market on December 7. She promised a great deal of entertainment including live bands, carol singers and a jazz performance.

The festivities will kick-off at midday and end at 6pm.