| County | Somerset, South West |
|---|---|
| Postcode | BA2 7UR |
| Opened | August 2009 |
| Post Office | Yes |
| Management | Managed plus volunteers |
| Legal | Other |
| Premises | New build |
View a map of where to find us
The Galleries Shop & Café – which is named after the Galleries Field on whose edge it sits – opened on Tuesday 4th August 2009. It is jointly owned by the communities of Freshford and Limpley Stoke which are on opposite sides of the county boundary – Limpley Stoke is in Wiltshire.
A grand opening was held on Saturday 12th September – Midge Ure, Ultravox front man, did the honours! He cut the ribbon jointly with the winner of our shop poster competition.
Limpley Stoke’s Shop and PO closed in 2004, Freshford’s in 2007. The campaign to get a community shop started in 2006, with a public meeting to gauge just how much support there was for the idea. There was lots – people actually signed on the dotted line to say how much they were going to spend at the shop per month if we were able to bring one about!
It took three and half years altogether. A long time was spent trying to take on the original shop. But it wasn’t available at a price we could justify so, having also checked out all other possible existing buildings, we homed in on the idea of a new build on the edge of a field. A Rural Renaissance grant of £90K and quite a number of capital donations from residents to provide the match funding got us off to a good start. Additional funding came from the Plunkett Foundation's Village Core Programme, Awards for All, the Medlock Trust, the COMMA fund and a number of local organisations; as well as several fundraising events. A promises auction raised £6,300!
We now have an attractive new green building with enough space to offer a reasonable choice of goods and to accommodate a small café inside – which expands out onto our terrace in fine weather. It’s conveniently located next to the Village Hall, with ample parking. The emphasis is on affordable basics, local produce, wholefoods, organic food, and some up-market ranges, too.
For further information on Freshford and Limpley Stoke view the following news item:
http://www.plunkett.co.uk/newsandmedia/news-item.cfm/newsid/231
Contact:
Shop tel: 01225 723240
Email: manager@galleriesshop.co.uk
People
Manager: Christine McKenzie, Freshford
Chair of the management committee: Peter King - pjking@onetel.net
Chair of the Board and PR: Gitte Dawson - gitte@galleriesshop.co.uk
