This year Polstead Shop in Suffolk is celebrating 25 years of trading as a community-owned enterprise. The shop is a great example of how through community-ownership rural communities can take control and provide a sustainable and long-term solution.
Polstead Community Shop opened in 1984 after the existing shop closed. Residents had recognised that a village shop was no longer commercially viable, but were aware of the social and practical benefits of having a shop in their community. Therefore a determined group of residents set upon the task of transferring the business over to the community-owned model.
The Plunkett Foundation is the organisation which promotes and supports co-operative and social enterprises, including community-owned shops, in rural communities both in the UK and internationally. It provides support, networks and knowledge for communities looking to follow Polstead’s lead and take control of an issue affecting their everyday lives. The Plunkett Foundation offers practical solutions to rural communities which helps to create thriving places where people live and work now and in the future. As one of the very first community-owned shops in the UK, the project has blazed a trail which an increasing number of rural communities are following. There are now over 200 community-owned shops on the Plunkett Foundation’s Directory, a figure which demonstrates that these models work and are being successfully run by communities all over the UK.
The shop initially opened in a second hand caravan on land in the centre of Polstead, with both the caravan and the land donated by families in the community. Then funds were raised through donations and loans, including ‘trading bonds’ (bonds that after 3 months could be redeemed against purchases in the shop) with the purpose of setting up a permanent shop. The shop was up and running within 5 months and proved so successful that turnover doubled in the first year.
Erica Pomerans, a Committee Member of Polstead Community Shop said, “In Polstead, we know that a shop and post office in a village bring priceless benefits. They provide a service, a meeting place, and, when community-run, a means to build close-knit bonds in a village. We in Polstead have enjoyed all of these for a quarter of a century and the village has often acknowledged that without the Shop it would have been a different, poorer, less vibrant place.”
Despite a review of the shop in 1995 following a total of 4 break-ins and slower trading, the community remained determined to keep the shop open. ‘Friends of Polstead Shop’ was established to promote fundraising and undertake improvements to the premises. This partnership proved to be a great support to the existing management committee and as well as promoting the shop, this organisation is also responsible for adding to the social activities undertaken in Polstead.
Harriet English of the Plunkett Foundation added, “Community-owned shops are much more than a convenient place to buy your milk and a newspaper; for many people they are a lifeline and act to re-establish links with their wider community. Shops become a social hub of a village, and provide a place to chat, display village information and create informal support networks for the more vulnerable members of a community.”
Polstead Shop celebrating their 25th anniversary proves that communities can take control and address the issues facing rural communities today. As well as creating a strong village hub, community-ownership can provide a practical service to a wide range of people. The longstanding success over a quarter of a century is a testament to an extremely hardworking and committed team of people, and the longstanding resilience of the community enterprise model.
For further information on community-owned rural shops, please visit www.plunkett.co.uk or contact us on 01993 810730 or ruralcommunityshops@plunkett.co.uk