Ambridge, the fictional home of The Archers, will be celebrating next month with the announcement that their new community-owned shop will open its doors on 2 June.
In October listeners heard how the only shop in Ambridge was threatened with closure after the owners decided to sell up. As it is the only shop in the community, villagers reacted with shock and concern at the decline of this vital community service which provides so much to so many people in the community. Since then, The Archers have taken their 800,000 daily listeners through the process of a community coming together to set up a community-owned enterprise to save their shop.
Recently listeners heard how the community have reached their target of raising the funds needed to save the shop. They are going down the route of being supported by the fictitious arm of the Village CORE Programme, a real life dedicated support programme managed by the Plunkett Foundation which helps rural communities to set up and run community a community-owned shop. It matches community contributions with a grant and loan. Nearly 50 new community-owned shops have opened through this programme and now community-ownership saves around 10% of village shop closures which are estimated to be around 400 this year.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, said, “Due to The Archers, awareness of the potential for community-owned enterprises has never been higher. The knock-on impact has been greater numbers of communities coming forward with the confidence to take on this challenge themselves. This in itself is a legacy The Archers can rightly feel very proud of.”
There are now 235 community-owned shops in the UK with a record 38 opening in 2009 alone. They come in all shapes and sizes depending on the needs of the communities themselves. The Plunkett Foundation works with a range of organisations to support the development of community-owned shops in the UK.
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For press and media enquires, please contact Elizabeth of Mar on 07870 276375 or elizabethofmarpr@yahoo.co.uk
Notes to Editors:
The Village CORE Programme (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/core/Core.cfm) is a dedicated support programme for rural communities wanting to set up and run a community-owned shop to save or reintroduce the last shop in a community. It is a partnership between the Plunkett Foundation, the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance and is supported by the LankellyChase Foundation. It has supported 48 new community-owned village shops to open since it began in 2006.
The Plunkett Foundation (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/) helps rural communities through community-ownership to take control of the issues affecting them. Founded in 1919, the Plunkett Foundation provides dedicated support for the development of community-owned village shops, community-owned rural services and community food and farming enterprises.