what have we done?
One of the first things we did was to conduct a village-wide survey to gauge interest in Shaw and Whitley in retaining a village stores and to understand more about what the villagers might want. This was an important first step in shaping our plans for the project. Those results and particularly the fantastic response rate from villagers are also critical in enabling us to apply for grants to help with funding the initial stages of the project as well as potentially some of the costs of building, buying or fitting out premises.
becoming a community shop
In common with many community-run enterprises around the country, we have established ourselves as a Community Benefit Society, with the help of a small set-up grant from Melksham Without Parish Council.
As a CBS, Shaw and Whitley Community Hub will offer membership to all villagers, who will all get an equal vote in deciding how the business will be run. The Hub will be run by a management committee drawn from members of the community. It’s worth mentioning here, that this will not necessarily be the same as the current steering group. Once the Hub is established, the steering group’s job will be done and an on-going management committee will be established separately. The rules of a CBS state that trading should meet the community’s identified needs and include an asset lock as a fundamental operating principle. This ensures that the business assets can only be used for the benefit of the community and any profits must be reinvested in the business or used to support other local community projects.
making it happen
We were delighted to be approached by the new owners of 116 Top Lane, Whitley (formerly The Toast Office) with an offer to rent space in the premises to open our community-run village shop alongside their other businesses: Spindles Bikes, a coffee shop run by Spindles and the Barbastelle Bikes workshop.
The primary means of fundraising, as with most community shops, was through the sale of Community Shares in the business and our share offer, run from 1–30 June, 2021, successfully exceeded our target, with £35,000 raised through share investments from villagers and interested locals from the immediate surrounding areas.
With the additional help of grants from Melksham Without Parish Council and the Melksham Area Board, we were able to purchase the necessary equipment to fit out our shop space and prepare to open. A team of volunteers decorated the space and helped to complete the necessary shelf-building and electrical work.
We opened on 14th August, 2021, with an official opening ceremony and ribbon cutting on 9th October, where we hosted many of our local suppliers and were able to showcase the fantastic range of products on our shelves and celebrate the efforts of our wonderful volunteers.
The shop is operating with around 45 regular volunteers working shifts behind the till and assisting behind the scenes with ordering, maintenance and other operational necessities.