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Goths: Evidence of the success of the system.
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In 2003, The Goth in Armadale was still owned and run by a committee from the local community, although only male committee members are allowed. The Dean Tavern in Newtongrange was still open but at East Whitburn, West Lothian, their Goth no longer functions under the system. However, a trust fund was created when the system was discontinued and is used to benefit the elderly of the community.
The Goth, Armadale and the Dean Tavern, Newtongrange both sold their beer cheaply. It could be argued that this encouraged the consumption of alcohol. Similarly, the fact that the profits were being used to benefit the local community could provide the ideal argument for increasing one's personal consumption of alcohol; the more that was drunk the greater the profits. Whether the amounts consumed by the customers of the Gothenburg public houses did increase or not has not been investigated. However, there is no doubt that both of these communities did benefit from the profits of their public houses and once they had become established no evidence was produced to argue for their closure. Profits paid for district nurses or ambulances; local clubs received donations or trophies; local gala days benefited and various buildings, e.g. picture houses, were erected.
Although funded in different ways, both public houses provided material benefits for their communities, proving that the Gothenburg system did, and continues to, work successfully.
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In this section:
Schools of arts and the mechanics institutes | Working Men's Institutes | Trust public houses
Contents | The earliest public libraries | Learning organisations