Plunkett Foundation News

Two years after the last shop closed, the residents of two small villages near Bath now have a purpose-built, community-owned shop and café building developed with support from the Village CORE Programme.  The grand opening of the Galleries Shop & Café, owned by the Freshford and Limpley Stoke Community Association took place on 12th September with Midge Ure, Ultravox frontman, cutting the ribbon.The closure of the two village shops, in 2004 and 2007, meant that the residents of Freshford and Limpley Stoke had to travel over three miles to reach the nearest small shop and five miles to the nearest...

Congratulations to the Co-operative Party for becoming the first political party to adopt Plunkett's Right to Try idea in its manifesto. Whilst the Foundation is politically neutral and seeks to influence all mainstream parties, we are delighted to recognise this endorsement.Right to Try is a simple idea. All too often communities hear of the closure of a shop just as it is about to close its doors. This then creates an almost impossible task of deciding that the shop could be saved, rallying the community, setting up a new organisation, raising the funds to save the shop etc. All this...

Below is the latest Plunkett Weekly news for the week ending 11 September 2009 Download (PDF)Plunkett Foundation NewsPLUNKETT PERSPECTIVE This week’s perspective reflects on the success of the recent Plunkett Foundation AGM http://plunkettfoundation.blogspot.com/ To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Facebook visit       http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79687818921&ref=nf To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Twitter visit http://twitter.com/PeterCouchman PLUNKETT FOUNDATION 90TH ANNIVERSARY SEMINAR AND AGMThe Plunkett Foundation’s 90th anniversary seminar and AGM, held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on 09.09.09, was a time to celebrate our past and present and set out our future direction.The event featured a range of speakers, including Graham Russell, Executive...

The Plunkett Foundation’s 90th anniversary seminar and AGM, held at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London on 09.09.09, was a time to celebrate our past and present and set out our future direction.The event began with Graham Russell, Executive Director of the Commission for Rural Communities speaking about the opportunities and challenges for rural co-operatives and social enterprises.Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, then set out his vision for the future role of the Plunkett Foundation.  This year we have seen an unprecedented rise in the number of community-owned shops opening across the UK.  Even in the most...

Below is the latest Plunkett Perspective blog from Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation.Plunkett AGMAnnual General Meetings are often not the most inspiring events if you've helped organise them, but our AGM last week left me with a spring in my step.It wasn't just the pleasure of sharing a platform with inspiring people from Feckenham Village Shop, Community Transport Association and Thames Valley Farmers Market Co-operative. It was the sense of connecting our past with our future. It was great fun to share some of our future plans, but it was also a privilege to celebrate our Irish...

The latest Plunkett Weekly News for the week ending 4 September 2009 is now online. Download (pdf)Plunkett Foundation NewsPLUNKETT PERSPECTIVE This week’s perspective looks at the relationship between the work of the Plunkett Foundation and the academic world. http://plunkettfoundation.blogspot.com/ To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Facebook visit       http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79687818921&ref=nf To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Twitter visit http://twitter.com/PeterCouchman MAKING LOCAL FOOD WORK - SEPTEMBER CONFERENCE SOLD OUTThe second Making Local Food Work has sold out. The conference will take place on Wednesday 30th September 2009 at the Bristol Marriott City Centre Hotel. Titled ‘Making Local Food Work: Community Enterprise and the Future...

Job Vacancy at Making Local Food Work - Projects Manager for Community Supported Agriculture and Organic Buying Groups projects.  For further info including a full job description http://bit.ly/1kCsc

Below is the latest Plunkett Perspective blog from Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation.Back to College...Last week saw me going back to college. Not, I hasten to add, because of the start of the new school year, but two events both held in Oxford. The International Co-operative Alliance Research Conference at Queens College, Oxford was quickly followed by the Society for Co-operative Studies Conference at Ruskin College, Oxford.Spending several days immersed in academia had me thinking about its relation to our work. It seems to me that there is great opportunity, but the challenge is finding the right...

The latest Plunkett Weekly News (pdf) for the week ending 04.09.2009 is now online. Plunkett Foundation NewsPLUNKETT PERSPECTIVE This week’s perspective outlines a unique approach to good customer service. http://plunkettfoundation.blogspot.com/ To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Facebook visit http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=79687818921&ref=nf To follow the Plunkett Foundation on Twitter visit http://twitter.com/PeterCouchman FOLLOW MAKING LOCAL FOOD WORK ON TWITTERMaking Local Food Work now has a Twitter profile.  Get the latest tweets from the world of Community Food Enterprise at http://twitter.com/janmlfw  MAKING LOCAL FOOD WORK - TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE FOR SEPTEMBER CONFERENCEThe second Making Local Food Work conference will take place on Wednesday 30th September 2009 at...

Welcome to the September edition of the MLFW newsletterSeptember is always a busy month for the programme, as we prepare to wind up the year’s financial and impact reporting, but it also provides an opportunity to look back at what we have achieved.As the second year of MLFW draws to a close, we can already see many examples of community food enterprises supported or inspired by our work, as well as a surge in interest from the Press as people begin to understand the importance of re-connecting with food production and supply. Our message is increasing in popularity, as demonstrated...