Our dying local pub went viral – it helped us raise £100,000 to save it

As far as crowdfunding campaigns go, Sarah de Warren’s innovative short video that aimed to raise funds to reopen The Elm Tree pub in the pretty Dorset village of Langton Herring had noble intentions. The 17th-century hostelry boasts an impressive history, including being a secret rendezvous for Russian spies during the Cold War, and the home of the invention of the bouncing bomb. But for de Warren, who grew up in the village, it was simply an integral part of this small community that was at risk of being lost.

“I got my first job washing dishes there when I was 13,” she tells me. “We don’t have a shop here – it’s the only establishment in the village. It’s the place we would all go and do the pub quiz – it’s just a staple.”

After changing hands several times, the pub was no longer a viable business and had to close its doors in November 2023. At this point, the local community realised how central it was to village life.

While the villagers managed to raise a significant sum of money in an effort to save the pub, they were still far off their target; de Warren quickly realised that a new tactic was required. “Mum and Dad were doing their own fundraisers – playing music at the church and selling jams and stuff – but I realised that wasn’t going to be enough,” she recalls. “So, I thought let’s try some silly videos and have some fun with it – and that was the birth of the project.”

“The project” was a short video starring her parents and retired local people from the area using Gen Z slang to talk about how “salty” they felt about the pub’s closure and how “shook” they felt when they discovered it might be knocked down. Describing their beleaguered local as “the G.O.A.T” and somewhere people could “meet their next situationship” or “crochet with the besties”, the clip ended with a senior woman declaring “where else could we get lit on a Friday night?”

The clip was posted to TikTok and within a few hours, the number of people who had viewed it started hitting the tens of thousands. “We couldn’t believe it,” smiles de Warren. “People were really fascinated and connected with our story – I didn’t realise people would be so enamoured by a bunch of boomers talking like Gen Z.”

The video took on a life of its own, attracting interest, comments and support from around the world, with US audiences particularly enthralled by this glimpse of traditional English life. “It really resonated in America,” says de Warren. “I think it’s wonderful that people are so intrigued by English village life, because it is really special. It’s green, with a lovely community that many people might not experience because they live in cities. I’m really happy that people are so enchanted by it, because I am too.” To date, it has been viewed nearly two million times.

How game were the locals to participate in the video? “Some villagers were really up for it,” says de Warren – “but others didn’t want to take part, which is completely understandable. None of us knew how big it was going to be, so it might have been different if that was already known.”

The video itself took around 20 minutes to film with the editing taking a little longer – “but I didn’t spend long on it,” says de Warren. “I think that’s why it was so successful – because it wasn’t polished or perfect. It was obviously just a group of villagers throwing something together. There was no strategy and no professionals behind it. I think that’s made it so endearing.”

Handling the intense attention played out differently for de Warren and the villagers. “I was very much behind the scenes, so it was quite chill for me,” she says. “My parents really loved the whole thing. They were just so excited and a lot of the villagers loved being able to act – a lot of them are really talented and funny and they’ve never had an opportunity to show the world until now. Judy, who’s one of the main women in the video, was very popular – she just loved it. I think everyone took something different away from it, but to everyone who wanted to be involved, it’s been a really positive experience.”

By July 2025 – just five months after posting the video – £140,000 had been donated and the Elm Tree reopened. “The villagers managed to fundraise £100,000, but they wouldn’t have been able to buy the pub without the donations,” says de Warren. “It got them over the line and it’s gone to incredible use.

“When the money started flooding in, no one could believe it. It absolutely exceeded everyone’s expectations – everyone was like: how far is this going to go? It was crazy to see how views could turn into money. I think it was really interesting for my parents to see the power of social media because it’s obviously a new thing for their generation. They were a bit sceptical, but now they’ve seen this very positive side.”

And later that year, the video was nominated for Video of the Year at the 2025 TikTok Awards UK & Ireland. De Warren’s parents and stars of the video, Tim and Hilary, didn’t scoop the top prize, but enjoyed dressing up for the starry event. “We felt quite old,” Hilary tells me. “It was so ironic because we were there for this high-tech award, but we had no idea how to book an Uber, so at the end of the night, we were just standing outside in the cold,” laughs Tim.

The interest in their small village and its pub has even extended to visits from around the globe. “Just a couple of weeks ago, a lady came from America,” says de Warren. “She was visiting family in Devon and took a taxi all the way to the pub to take the crochet ladies out for lunch. They exchanged some crochet gifts and then she headed home. She came especially – it was amazing.

Tim adds: “There’s also a visitors book in the pub and some of the comments have made us cry – they’re just amazing. People from America, Australia, France… all over.”

Now, business is booming at The Elm Tree. “It’s incredible,” says de Warren. “It struggled for so many years and now it’s full of life. Business is really good, even through winter, which is amazing, as it’s usually the quiet season, but it continues to be busy. A lot of walkers come through the village and people from town know our story and want to check it out.”

“It’s also bonded our community really well,” says Hilary.

“And not just for us,” adds Tim, “but future generations because there’s now a pub in the village and that’s really important.”

Looking back on their whirlwind year, de Warren describes feeling “really proud and fulfilled” about their social media success story. “I’m so happy the pub is open again. It feels very complete.”

When asked if she gets free pints for life, de Warren laughs and says she wants to “support the cause”. Her commitment to the pub clearly runs deep.

“It’s worth a visit,” says Hilary. “You should come down.” With locals like this, it’s a tempting invitation.