Staff and volunteers


Our Staff


We are very lucky to have some enormously dedicated people working for HOTV.


Jo Bown is our shop manager and a true legend in and around Stoke St Gregory. After having been a true ambassador for the Rose & Crown we were very lucky to have her get involved with the HOTV shop, together with Caroline Dauncey.


Jo has continued to develop the shop as well as the café including offering meals during special lunch and dinner times.  As full time employee you will see her around nearly every single day.


Richard and Marianne Verschoor are our pub management couple since early April 2026, bringing their experience of running restaurants and a pub to the Royal Oak and aiming to make many new friends here. 


Jo, Richard and Marianne can rely on a few members of the team who work part time and who assist in roles such as shop assistant, bar person, pot washer and cleaner.


Our volunteers


The Heart of the Village would not exist without volunteers. It is as simple as that. We therefore are very grateful that a great number of people have stepped forward to undertake the many tasks there are to keep all activities in the Royal Oak going. 

Apart from the obvious customer facing roles we also have to thank those who work more 'behind the scenes'. With a building like the Royal Oak and with a business organisation such as the Heart of the Village Ltd, there is never an end to the list of outstanding tasks.

Our volunteers are the lifeblood of HOTV. As a community enterprise, it is the intention that to some extent the shop, the café and the pub should be staffed by volunteers. We are very keen to retain the help and enthusiasm of our large team; in fact we absolutely depend on them to make HOTV viable in the long term.

If you have already given time to the shop or elsewhere, thank you very much. If you have not but feel you might be able to help in the future, please talk to Jo or Ann in the shop or Ian in the pub.


We also rely on those who maintain the building and the garden. If you have time and skills to offer here, please email facilities@heartofthevillage.uk or contact Paul Fielding (07754 911146).


Like any Community Benefit Society, HOTV is managed by an elected Management Committee, whose job is to keep the show on the road in the best interests of the community. The paid managers of the shop and pub are answerable to the Membership of the Society via the Management Committee. The Management Committee members are also volunteers.