The Village Core Programme supports the establishment of community-owned shops in rural communities. This includes the establishment of a new community-owned shop or saving an existing shop by transfer to community ownership. The programme cannot currently support the expansion of existing community-owned shops.
Berrynarbor Community Shop in Devon, a beneficiary of the Village CORE Programme
The Village CORE Programme provide a start-up grant of up to £20,000 per community-owned rural shop, subject to contributions of at least the same value being obtained from the community and a loan of at least the same value being granted by Co-operative and Community Finance, a recognised Community Development Finance Institution (CDFI).
The community is required to raise match funding through community contributions, which could take the form of share capital, donations raised through community fundraising events and grants obtained from other sources to the same or greater value than the grant requested from the Village CORE Programme. At least some of the funds raised should have been provided by the community itself and not solely through external grants.
Co-operative and Community Finance is required to support the venture with a loan of at least equivalent value to amount of grant requested, thereby ensuring that the business plan is sufficiently robust to qualify for this support.
All elements of the programme are supported by the Plunkett Foundation, who provide advice to the village community and manage the assessment procedure.
The programme aims to better understand the support needs of community owned village shops. For this reason, successful applicants to the programme should agree for the outcomes of their support to be used for evaluation purposes on an aggregated and confidential basis. In addition applicants agree to their shop being used in case studies and in promotional materials for the programme.
Village CORE Programme: How to apply
In Partnership with:
