Further support for rural communities looking to set up and run a community-owned shop is now available following the announcement from the Plunkett Foundation that the pioneering Village CORE Programme is to be extended for a further three years.
The Village CORE Programme is a support programme for rural communities looking to set up and run a community-owned rural shop. It has supported 36 community-owned shops to open since May 2006 and a further 17 are due to open by the end of the year. The extended programme will be able to support a further 60 communities across the next three years.
Feckenham Community-Owned Village Shop in Worcester received advice and financial support through the Village CORE Programme
The Village CORE Programme is a partnership between the Plunkett Foundation, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance. It provides a combination of grant and loan finance up to a maximum total of £40,000 matched with the equivalent community contributions of up to £20,000 alongside specialist enterprise support from the Plunkett Foundation. 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. In 2009 the Plunkett Foundation is celebration 90 years of helping rural people to believe in what they can achieve together.
There are now over 200 community-owned rural shops in the UK and this number is growing by around 30 each year. The shops come in various shapes and sizes, reflecting the needs of the community in which they are based. Some are based in purpose-built premises whilst others are based in previous shop premises, village halls, portacabins, churches and pubs and others find a use for a previously unused community building.
Nenthead Community Shop and Post Office is one of the community-owned shops to benefit from the Village CORE Programme. Nenthead is a small and isolated community in the Northern Pennines and is England’s highest village. Originally a mining community, Nenthead once had a series of shops and services to support the workers and their families. In 2006, the last remaining shop closed leaving the community with a 10 mile round trip needed to reach the nearest shop and with limited access to transport.
Nenthead Community-Owned Shop and Post Office in Cumbria
At this point the community decided to take action with six residents forming a committee with the aim of re-establishing a shop in Nenthead which would be community-owned. In 2007 Nenthead Community Shop Ltd opened for business. A Nenthead resident and committee member explained how much the community had missed the shop over the summer: “In a rural community like Nenthead a shop is more than just a place to buy groceries. It’s where you find out the news and especially for people without transport, it’s the main place where you meet others and can have a chat.”
Like many community-owned rural shops, it provides a wide range of groceries including fresh fruit and vegetables and a range of local products. It also provides a Post Office alongside other services including access to cash, community information and a small seating area. Nenthead Community Shop provides employment for six part-time staff and is also reliant on a group of volunteers from the community.
Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation said, “The extension of the Village CORE Programme is fantastic news for the growing number of rural communities looking to set up and run a community-owned shop. We have seen communities transformed through this process and we look forward to helping more communities to help themselves over the next three years.”
Ian Rothwell, Development Manager of Co-operative and Community Finance says, “To those outside of rural communities, it can be difficult to understand the importance of a local shop but they really are vital to small communities. Often, they provide much more than food as they serve as a meeting hub for local residents and help to create community cohesion, which is why we’re so keen to support them.”
Dawn Austwick, Chief Executive of the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation, said: "The Village Core Programme is a dynamic attempt to help rural communities revitalise themselves. It takes an enterprising approach to achieving its aims, addresses a significant gap in provision and looks to develop good practice - all things which are at the heart of the funding decisions that Esmée Fairbairn makes. We were impressed by the energy of those working on the programme, and the record of delivery in local communities, and therefore our Trustees have made a further grant to support this work."
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NOTES TO EDITORS
The Village CORE Programme (www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/core/Core.cfm)
is a dedicated support programme for rural communities looking to set up a community-owned shop managed by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk) and Co-operative and Community Finance (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 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 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 supports rural communities wanting to set up and run a community-owned shop, providing practical assistance through a network of community retail advisers, its website, various publications and a national office. In 2009 the Plunkett Foundation is celebrating 90 years of helping rural people to believe in what they can achieve together.
The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (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.
Co-operative & Community Finance (www.co-opandcommunityfinance.coop) provides sympathetic loan finance to help people take control of their economic lives and create social benefit. They exclusively serve the co-operative and social enterprise sector, and over 36 years they have supported hundreds of businesses ranging from small community-run enterprises to large award-winning organisations.
Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk) is one of the largest independent grant-making foundations in the UK. It aims to improve the quality of life throughout the UK. It does this by funding the charitable activities of organisations that have the ideas and ability to achieve change for the better. The Foundation takes pride in supporting work that might otherwise be considered difficult to fund. Esmée Fairbairn’s primary interests are in the UK's cultural life, education and learning, the natural environment and enabling people who are disadvantaged to participate more fully in society. In 2009 the Foundation expects to make grants of approximately £25 million across the UK.
For further information please contact Mike Perry at the Plunkett Foundation:
Tel: 01993 810730
E-mail: mike.perry@plunkett.co.uk
Website: www.plunkett.co.uk
High resolution images of a range of community-owned rural shops supported through the Village CORE Programme are available on request.
