The Plunkett Foundation is pleased to announce that a community-owned rural shop supported by its hugely successful Village CORE Programme has won a coveted award for best village shop and post office in the South West of England.
Berrynarbor is a small village located on the North Devon coast. In 2004 the community faced the prospect of losing the village shop and post office when the postmaster retired. Residents decided to take action and formed a co-operative to save the shop. As Alex Parke, of Berrynarbor Community Shop and Post Office explains, the shop and post office are “one of the key facilities, the heart of any village” and a future without them was unthinkable.
Berrynarbor is one of over 190 community-owned rural shops in the UK and this number is growing by around 20 each year. The shops come in various shapes and sizes, reflecting the needs of the community in which they are based. Some, like Berrynarbor, are based in purpose-built premises whilst other are based in previous shops, village halls, portacabins, churches and pubs. The Plunkett Foundation supports rural communities wanting to set up and run a community-owned rural shop, providing practical assistance through a network of community retail advisers, its website, various publications and a national office.
Berrynarbor Community Shop and Post Office has gone from strength to strength. After four years of dedicated and determined fundraising and planning, and with financial support and advice from the Village CORE programme, the shop moved into purpose-built premises in 2008. It continues to be staffed by nearly 30 volunteers, who, along with the shop’s managers, form the enthusiastic team behind this thriving rural social enterprise.
The shop – which has a small café and plans to install an internet point – stocks a wide range of local produce, from freshly-baked bread and pies, to cider, ice cream and locally-reared meat. Berrynarbor is also taking part in a Plunkett Foundation-led pilot scheme to encourage shoppers to ‘Look for Local Food’ as part of the Making Local Food Work programme, and recent figures show that approximately one third of the food sold in the shop is local. This reflects the shop’s determination to be an asset not just to the village but to producers, suppliers and the local economy as a whole.
The success of Berrynarbor Community Shop and Post Office over the past five years demonstrates what can be achieved by rural communities given the right support. Berrynarbor will now join the other regional finalists at a reception in the House of Lords next month, where the national winners of the Countryside Alliance Awards will be announced.
For further information please contact Elizabeth of Mar at the Plunkett Foundation on 07870 276 375 or at elizabethofmarpr@yahoo.co.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
The Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) is a national organisation based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire that is dedicated to improving rural livelihoods through co-operative and social enterprise. The Plunkett Foundation works with other organisations that share its aims of helping rural communities respond to challenges to jobs, services and community vitality. Community-owned rural shops are one example of the growing number of rural social enterprises in the UK. A social enterprise is a business with primarily social objectives whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business or in the community.
The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx) to promote the role that social enterprise can play in rural communities in England. As part of the Cabinet Office, the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) leads work across government to support the environment for a thriving third sector (voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives and mutuals), enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. The OTS was created at the centre of government in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy.
The Village CORE Programme (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/core/Core.cfm) is a three year support programme managed by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (http://www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/) and Co-operative and Community Finance (http://www.co-opandcommunityfinance.coop/). It provides financial start-up packages and advisory support to communities looking to set up a community-owned rural shop. The Village CORE Programme will have supported 60 community-owned rural shops over the three years.
Making Local Food Work (http://www.makinglocalfoodwork.co.uk) is a five year programme supported by £10 million from the Big Lottery Fund’s Changing Spaces Programme, which aims to help communities enjoy and improve their local environments. A consortium of seven organisations, led by the Plunkett Foundation, is pooling its expertise to develop and promote different types of community food enterprise, giving advice to people all over England looking to re-engage and help others access good, fresh, local produce with clear origins. The programme aims to secure the long term future of thriving communities that are strongly connected with the land, that understand where their food comes from, and are empowered to respond to their own needs using community-led solutions.
The Countryside Alliance Awards (www.countrysideallianceawards.co.uk) are designed to celebrate the achievements of unsung rural heroes. The UK Winners’ Reception will be held at the House of Lords on Wednesday 18th March 2009.
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