Study Visit Casestudies
Hudswell Community Pub Ltd visited Middleton Tyas Community Shop
The community of Hudswell in Yorkshire recently came together to buy their local public house, the George and Dragon, following its closure in 2008. Over £200,000 was raised through a village co-operative (IPS Bencom), including loans, grants, and investment from over 150 villagers, friends and supporters.
The vision is for the pub to become a focal point for village life, and to include an on-site community owned shop. As part of a feasibility exercise to determine whether a community owned shop could work within the Pub premises, and how it would work, a sub-group of the Community Pub Committee, and the Tenant of the Community Pub applied to visit Middleton Tyas where the community there has successfully set up a community owned Shop. More here
Wootton Stores visits Feckenham Village Shop
Wootton Stores is a community-owned shop in Oxfordshire which opened in 2007 following the closure of the existing village shop. The shop employs a manager, Pam Jones, on a part time basis and a team of up to 40 volunteers. Specialist Enterprise Support facilitated a Study Visit between Wootton stores and Feckenham Village Shop. Wootton Stores were particularly interested in gaining insight into the day to day operation of Feckenham Village Shop and their management of volunteers. More here
Aston Hayes Village Shop in Cheshire visits Witherslack Community Shop in Cumbria
Ashton Hayes and Mouldsworth are both rural villages in Cheshire; both of these villages rely on the use of one village shop based in Aston Hayes.
When the future of this shop was unsure, the communities came together to form a committee and transformed their village shop into a community owned shop. The members of staff at the shop took advantage of the Enterprise Support Programme and went on a Study Visit to another community owned shop in a rural village called Witherslack in Cumbria. More here
Seavington Community Shop & Cafe in Somerset visited Ide Community Shop in Devon
The Seavingtons in Somerset comprise of two village - Seavington St Mary and Seavington St Michael. The villages have shared a pub for some time, but now they share a community owned and run village shop and cafe as well.
The communities put a lot of time and research into the possibility of starting a community shop, prior to its opening in July 2010. The project initially started in 2005, but now up and running the staff at the shop took part in a Study Visit, as part of the Making Local Food Work Project, and visited Ide Community shop, which is set in Devon.
Ide have been open since April 2009 and they were only to happy share their challenges and knowledge with the staff at Seavington Village shop. More here
