Good early interest in Shop Share Scheme

Many thanks from the CCSG to all those residents who have already come forward to buy Shares, or make donations / loans.

If you would like any more information about the Scheme, please go to the "JOIN US" page and download a prospectus and form.

We have also had some success in obtaining grants recently. In addition to £1,500 from the Parish Council, we have been granted £642 from the LJC towards the cost of the Ramp, and received a Retail grant of £969.

We continue to be overwhelmed by the help given to us, both within and outside the Community, by individuals and companies donating goods, services, or time to help us achieve the goal of opening a Shop that can serve our Community.

Icelandic volcano hits Cheswardine Shop project

Hopefully you will have noticed the clearance work that has been carried out in front of the shop.

For those of you who receive the "PARISH NEWS", you will see the intrepid band of workers, with spades raised, on the front cover of the May edition.

This was in preparation for work to start on the ramp access, and repair to the front wall.

However, our trusty builder, Otto Blank, has been stranded in Sweden as a result of the flights embargo.

Despite this setback, we're still hoping that we can have the work completed in time to hit the 22nd May opening date.

Ed If you would like to buy a copy of Parish News, a great source of local information for only 50p, please contact Keith Kingsbury on 01630 661398, pardolote@aol.com

INTO THE FINAL STRAIGHT

With the Shop due to open on May 22nd, the Cheswardine Parish Council came to the timely help of the CCSG by granting £1500 to the Project at the Council Meeting held on 22nd April.

This most welcome grant will be used to buy the initial stock for the Shop, allowing us to move forward with confidence to the opening date.

Hopefully in due course, the CCSG will be able to put any surpluses made from the Shop back into Community projects to repay the faith and support shown by the Parish Council.

Volunteers / Shares / Donations

We still need more help and if you would like to take a turn in the shop, or help in any other way, please phone:

Sue Downie 661919

If you would like to buy a share, or make a donation, please download the form on the “Join Us” page, or contact:

Celia Bramley 661322

Also if anyone knows a friendly accountant to help us out we would be eternally grateful!

Please contact:

Amanda Parish 661596

Lots of work going on at the CCSG

As you may have noticed the Members of the CCSG have all been very busy:

• The Share scheme has been launched
• We have held our first AGM
• Landscaping the frontage has started
• We have made arrangements for a ramp to be built
• A sign has been painted above the shop – “Community Shop”
• The first Volunteer meeting has taken place
• Stock lists are being prepared
• A newspaper stand has been ordered

Opening on May 22nd

Well at long last we have an opening date

22 MAY !

Landscaping at the front of the Shop in preparation for the new Ramp

SHARE ISSUE

The CCSG are due to issue Shares in the middle of April.

A leaflet is currently being delivered to all (we hope!) households in the vicinity with details on how to buy a share in your Community Shop.

If you don 't receive a leaflet, or want more details, please contact:

Amanda Parish

01630 661596

amanda.parish@hotmail.com

Planning Permission received

Great News!!

Planning permission has been confirmed for the Disabled Ramp access to the new shop.

Work should start in April.

In the meantime, we are busy trying to raise funds so we can finish off the Shopfitting, stock the shop, and cover the other starting up costs such as insurance.

More updates to follow in next few weeks as we get closer to Blast Off.

Latest News

It's been a little while since we posted an update but a lot has been going on in that time.

Otto Blank has finished the work making the shop good inside, and Tom Lewis has decorated it for us.

Thanks to both for a great job.

Planning permission for the Disabled Ramp is imminent. Otto will putting the ramp in for us as soon as that permission is received.

Great news from the Shropshire Joint Local Committee. They have agreed to a grant of £642 towards the cost of the Ramp.

In the meantime, the Committee have been beavering away with the nitty gritty of Shopfittings, Merchandising, Sourcing supplies, and the other 1001 things that need to be sorted out before opening.

(Ed - I feel I should point out that all the boys & girls on the Committee have their own jobs, businesses, lives, families etc to run and everything they do for the Shop Project is in their spare time at no cost).

TARGET OPENING DATE: MAY 2010

Happy to report some real progress at last

Dear Readers,

Xmas and New Year seem to have come & gone in a Blizzard (literally).

Despite the conditions the Community Committee have been beavering away, and have made progress with the potential shop site adjoining the Fox & Hounds Pub.

Below is an article, written for the Fox & Hounds Newsletter, by Eileen Ware who handles CCSG's publicity:

"When we began the task of setting up a community shop over 12 months ago we never believed it would be so challenging! How would we find the finance, or suitable premises? The opportunity to build a shop in the grounds of the Parish hall had to be rejected as too expensive at present.

But what was that small building, hidden by a bush and leaning against the refurbished Fox and Hounds? It was an old washhouse, which thanks to those very nice people at the Fox and Hounds will become the community’s new “Village Shop”.

A path needs to be cut through the grass for access, and this involves Building Regulations approval (granted) and Planning Permission for a Ramp (expected mid March), after which the work can be completed.

It is a very compact premises (small !), and volunteers will be selling only basics (newspapers, bread, milk, some grocery items) for a couple of hours each morning and evening (morning only at weekends) - but it will be a start, and who knows what the future holds if our customers are queuing at the door?

Meanwhile, we will be inviting parishioners to buy a share in the new shop for £10 which will entitle them to have a say in how the shop is run. If you can help but have not already volunteered - please contact Sue Downie on 01630 661919. For general information about the shop, please contact Amanda Parish on 01630 661596 Amanda.parish@hotmail.co.uk

We send huge thanks to Woody, Steve Nuttall and all their colleagues at the Fox and Hounds for providing us with Cheswardine’s new “Village Shop”.

Cheswardine Community Shop Group "

Keep posted for more info.

Ed

HAPPY NEW YEAR

With Xmas, New Year, and weather from the Artic, there hasn't been too much to report on the Community Shop for the last few weeks.

It's a shame we coudn't have had the Shop open during this cold snap - many of us will have found it difficult to get to Market Drayton, Newport, or Loggerheads on the icy roads.

The good news is that the Shop Group meet on Monday 11th Jan (weather allowing) to move forward on the ramp and path project, the completion of which should finally see the new Community Shop open in the coming months.

Keep posted for more updates in the next few weeks.

QUIZ AT THE FOX & HOUNDS

Many thanks to Chrissie at the Fox & Hounds pub for putting on a Quiz night, with proceeds to the Village Shop.
Tearing Bill & Ellie Rushton away from their pub dinner (which looked and smelled great by the way for anyone thinking about trying the new food menu out), we made up a team to represent the CCSG.
Somewhat embarrassingly we scraped a win by 1 point!! The price is a voucher for a meal in the Pub to the value of £30, so we will be donating that as a prize for a future CCSG fundraising event.
A very enjoyable evening was had by all.

Cheers

Ed

Cheswardine Shop website hits the Parish News

Many thanks to Keith Kingsbury who kindly featured details of the Cheswardine Shop website in the December Parish News.



Should any Club, Society, or individual, want to add to our Blog with any news for the Community, please email your contribution to the Blog Editor at:



blog@cheswardineshop.co.uk


The Parish News, covering St. Swithun's, Cheswardine and St. Mary's, Hales is available at the bargain price of only 50p. It contains many articles of local interest and reference. A veritable "bible", if you'll forgive the pun.

The Magazine's Editor is Keith Kingsbury who can be contacted on 01630 661398 or pardolote@aol.com

COMMUNITY SHOP FOR AMBRIDGE?

The Community Shop has now reached the airwaves, with the residents of Ambridge talking about setting up their own Community Shop. Below is an extract from today's Telegraph discussing a new Community Shop opening in Thorncombe, Dorset.
Ed


".....is a real-life story that could be repeated in Ambridge, fictional setting of The Archers, where the village shop looks set to close as a result of the declining fortunes of its owners, Jack and Peggy Wooley.
Vanessa Whitburn, the editor of the Radio 4 show, said: "That would impact on quite a lot of our characters, not only Susan who works there, but older people who enjoy the shop as a meeting place and social venue."
While Pat Archer and local "busybody" Linda Snell are intent on setting up a community-run venture, Miss Whitburn warned: "Pat will have to get far more people on her committee if she's going to make it work."
The Plunkett Foundation, a charity which promotes self-help in rural communities and which provided £20,000 towards Thorncombe's shop, reported that 2009 was seeing an unprecedented number of such community-run ventures being set up.
So far this year, 25 shops have opened and there are a further 65 in the pipeline, which would take the total number to at least 285, stretching from Cornwall to the Isle of Skye.
Peter Couchman, chief executive of the foundation, said at one time a community-run shop would have been seen as "unusual" but the idea had gradually gained acceptance.
"I think it is incredibly encouraging to see them talking about this on The Archers," he said. "The more we see it going into mainstream thinking, the better. It's an incredibly good sign.
"We think we've reached a tipping point where we have now gone from a few communities doing something that others saw as unusual to a situation where people are now thinking they could do it too.
"It is seen as a credible, viable option. It is incredibly rare for the shops to fail, closure rates are virtually zero."
While the catalyst for action is often the impending closure of a shop, villages which have not had one for more than 20 years are also joining in the burgeoning movement. "

By Ian Johnston Telegraph.co.uk 8th November

VISIT TO THE SMALLEST VILLAGE SHOP

We are currently looking at small premises to get our Community Shop off the ground.

We were recommended to go and look at the Village Shop in Stottesdon to see what can be achieved from a small amount of space.

Thanks to Johanna Brown for sending in the following report.

Ed

I visited The Fighting Cocks pub at Stottesdon for a meal, which I would highly recommend to anyone reading. After the meal I had a look round the "Shop at the Cocks", and had a chat with the owner, Sandra Jefferies.

What can I say, yes it's small but it's packed with everything you need, plus some "posh nosh" extras with Sandra selling her pub food as ready meals. Sandra has started small, used local suppliers wherever possible, and learnt what sells and what doesn't over time.

She mentioned "Sell By" dates as something to be careful of - good for the big supermarkets but difficult to manage on a smaller turnover.

Sandra has built up a core group of regulars that buy all they need through the Shop which is what keeps it going. She knows she can't always beat the supermarkets on price, so she tries to sell different things.

When we open our new shop (coming soon!) we will need the backing of our wonderful community, not just to get us started, but to keep us going through thick & thin, so we can do our bit to get the heart of Cheswardine back.

Jo Brown

A YEAR LATER...................

Well the CCSG has now been going for a year. After a number of false dawns, we have finally settled on the smallest shop in the UK! Do you think we will get in the Guinness Book of Records? Hope so!

What a journey it has been.....

Will the fridge fit in the shop? Or should we run the shop from the fridge?

A posse is going out to look at another small shop in Shropshire this week, which is also next to a pub, so we are looking forward to hearing all about it!

Another lively meeting last week and hopefully we will be popping the champagne corks in the next few weeks when we hear about planning! We literally cannot wait for Stan to be stood in the shop selling us all newspapers!

Dave now has all the books so fingers crossed he will be happy to join us as our new Treasurer!

WELCOME TO OUR BLOG

Welcome to the Cheswardine Shop Group Blog.

Our group was formed after the closure of the Village Shop, with the aim of opening a Community run Shop selling essentials, but also acting as a focal point for residents and visitors alike.

We are starting this Blog in October 2009 when a lot of water has aleady passed under our bridge. We have found out the hard way that locating suitable premises, and satisfying the relevant legislation, is a lot more diffucult and time consuming than many of us thought.

If it seems to you that we have taken an age to get a Shop up & running, rest assured it feels even longer to us.

But Hope Springs Eternal and if you read on you will see some very encouraging news on a suitable starting site that has only just come to light.

If you are reading this and would like to contribute - about the Community Shop or anything else relevant to Cheswardine, and surrounding environs - please feel free to contact us on:
blog@cheswardineshop.co.uk

Wanted Treasurer and Book-Keeper

Wanted Treasurer & Book-Keeper

CCSG is looking for a Treasurer to sit on the Committee and head up the financial aspects of the Group.

As this is a key role, we will also need a Book-Keeper to assist the Treasurer in the day to day accounts and money handling once the Shop is up & running

Maybe there is a retired accountant out there who could take on both aspects of the role?





Could you help?

Do you know someone who would be willing to assist?

Please contact mailto:info@CheswardineShop.co.uk

Shop Support by Local Giant

Local Dairy Giant Muller Support Community Shop Initiative

Muller Dairy have kindly assisted the Cheswardine Community Shop Group with a donation to help with set-up costs.

Our sincere thanks to Muller for their generosity.

Recognise this.......... ??

Perhaps you don't immediately recognise this valuable asset?

It might not look much like a shop now, but could this provide an opportunity for a Community Shop in Cheswardine?

The CCSG is already considering a site next to the Parish Hall, with the help of both the Parish Hall Committee and the Parish Council.

This further site has been offered to the Group and the CCSG is now conducting a full feasibility study.

Watch the Blog for further updates.