Lifetime Achievement Award for Ash Publican

Published on: 18 Jul, 2019
Updated on: 23 Jul, 2019

Mike Armitage at the awards ceremony.

By David Reading

Mike Armitage, owner of the Lion Brewery in Ash, has been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his enduring commitment to charity fund-raising.

Over the years, he and his wife Lyndsey have raised an incredible £200,000 for local and national charities.

Mike is due to celebrate his 39th anniversary as the Lion Brewery’s landlord next month  and later this month (July 27) the pub will stage its 33rd Ash Music Festival in aid of the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice and other local charities.

The Lifetime Achievement Award was presented at the Old Thorns Hotel in Liphook by the Ei Group plc, the largest pub company in the UK.

The list of charities Mike has supported seems endless – including national organisations such as the Lockerbie Air Disaster fund, Childline, the NSPCC, Help for Heroes and Guide Dogs for the Blind, as well as local causes such as schools, the Scouts and the Ash Community Street Team.

The Lion Brewery in Ash

When Mike came to Ash, his first music festival was held to raise money to contribute towards a new minibus for the local Red Cross. The event was so successful that Mike was able to actually buy the minibus outright.

It was thanks to the annual music event that Mike, who is 80, got together with Lyndsey, who is 40 years his junior. Mike said: “Myself and Lyndsey first met 17 years ago through my charity work. I asked if she could help me with the Ash Music Festival and we got to know each other and fell in love. Since then we have got married and have had two wonderful children – Paul, who is nine, and Lexi, who is six. They all keep me very young.”

Mike, his wife Lyndsey and their son Paul

Three years ago, at the age of 77, Mike swam 77 lengths of the Aldershot pool for the Phyllis Tuckwell Hospice. He held a sweepstake at the pub for people to guess how long it would take him to complete the swim. Answers ranged from four hours to four days. Doing the breaststroke, he ended up completing the feat in 59 minutes and 55 seconds and raised just over £4,000 for the hospice.

And so the fund-raising continues, with the Ash Music Festival the next event on the calendar. The line-up includes Asylum Affair, Stolen ID, Thick Cut, Unpluggedthewood Allstars, Crash N Burn and Rattling Catflaps. The venue as always is the Harper’s Recreation Ground, opposite the pub.

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