We would like to know more about community-owned village shops, the people involved and the essential services that they provide to communities. A hard copy of the second survey of community-owned village shops was sent to community shops with…
ASHTAV, The Association of Small Historic Towns & Villages of the UK is holding “RALLY ROUND THE VILLAGE SHOP” on Saturday 10th May, 2008 from 1130 at St James the Great Church Room, Radley, Oxfordshire. Speakers include GRAHAM STEINSBERG,…
A village shop in Devon, which was taken over by the local community when its owners retired in 2004, has unveiled purpose-built new premises. Read full article............... http://www.cooperatives-uk.coop/News/berrynarborShop
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS – CASE STUDY Project Name: Nenthead Community Shop Project location Nenthead is a small and very rural community with a population of about 400 people. Originally a mining village it is located in the North Pennines,…
DEVELOPING THE VILLAGE SHOP.... On Sunday 18 May 2008 an event will be held at the Pavilion, Pontrhydfendigaid, Ceredigion, that will provide an opportunity for anyone who runs a Village Shop or is thinking of running one – either as a private…
Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7289939.stm
www.postofficeclosures.org.uk is a website that has been set up by communities for communities who are under threat from closure and it contains hints and tips on how to fight the closures and gives the opportunity to share experiences.
A paper has been prepared by Co-operativesUK, Development Trusts Association, Plunkett Foundation, RISE and the Social Enterprise Coalition as a contribution to the development of a Defra Third Sector Strategy, and particularly to the place of social…
Nationwide, in partnership with the Heritage Lottery Fund, has launched this year's awards. The awards are to recognise community champions who have made an impact on their local community. There are categories for Young People, Individuals and…
Ascott under Wychwood Community Village Shop has won its third award in as many months. It is the 2007 runner up as Best Village Shop/Post Office in the Best Rural Retailer National Competition. In December 2007, the shop won Best Village Shop for…
The Store is the Core is a new scheme, supported by the South West Regional Development Agency, which offers professional advice to village retailers. The objective is to improve their skills, diversify their businesses, and help secure their viability…
The Government has decided that because of falling customer numbers and mounting losses, the post office network needs restructuring. This will involve, in 2008, 2,500 closures and 500 new 'outreach' services being established. These changes will take…
The prospect of losing your post office is a considerable concern, but it could also provide the opportunity to look into alternative ways of providing a post office service. Brockweir and Hewelsfield Village Shop in Gloucestershire was unable to have…
Today the Post Office announced the start of its closure programme. This will have a significant impact on community-owned shops and rural life in general. About two thirds of community-owned shops run the post office too. Many of these post offices…
"A country Friend" covers the areas of Derbyshire, Gloustershire, Herefordshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire and Worcestershire. As a way of supporting the rural community,…
Its your community is a new awards programme to help people come together to make a real differece to the communities in which we live. Awards of up to £1000 are avalible to local groups and individuals, for anything that you can show will benefit…
£30 million Community Assets programme launched The Community Assets fund, a £30 million programme to transfer public buildings to local organisations, is now open to applications. The programme is being launched with a series of regional…
Forest Food is the on-line food sales and distribution business of the Forest Food Producers Group. The FFPG is a collective of local food producers who have come together to pool resources in building a supply chain and sales channel for local food.…
The Adventure Capital Fund (ACF) offers a range of investments and support to develop stable and sustainable community based enterprises. The aim of ACF is to fill the investment gap that faces community enterprise organisations, and to increase…
Check out this website for further information on how this service may increase your business and convenience for your customers! www.retailmerchantservices.co.uk
The Community Foundation for Swindon and Wiltshire offer help to voluntary and community groups with problems, by offering ideas for development and by regularly putting groups in touch with other organisations that can offer specialist advice or assistance. …
The Local Channel is offering all community village shops the opportunity to have a free website and will assist them to set up. The Local Channel is a national network of over 20,000 community websites templated across England, Scotland and…
A new local fund has been launched which will help all sorts of rural community groups to improve their amenities. The fund is called COMMA The Community Aggregates Fund and it’s a levy intended to provide community-benefit wherever there is an…
ViRSA gratefully acknowledges a grant from the ChangeUp programme with funding through the Improving Reach pilot programme, and managed by Capacity Builders.This grant will help fund our efforts to strengthen support to community owned shops. We are…
A popular local food scheme established in West Oxfordshire is celebrating its first anniversary this month. This simple scheme identifies food produced within 30 miles of village shops with stickers so that customers can easily identify produce…
www.ChooseWhereToCollect.com is a new website service that will allow consumers to choose a village shop, garage, farm, charity shop, or video rental shop as a collect point - for delivery of goods bought on the Internet or elsewhere. The consumer…
The Forest Food Producers Group are a Co-operative Society made up of local food and drink producers in the Forest of Dean and Wye Valley. Due to the Forest being such a wide spread rural area, distribution of produce is a major issue for local…
Village Shops and Post Offices: Power to the People On Monday night you may have watched a programme on BBC2 titled Power to the People. This programme focused on the village of Lanreath in Cornwall; a village like many others seeing the gradual…
A MAJOR initiative to safeguard the future of Cumbria's rural village shops has been launched by a local action group. The Community Solutions Project has been created in a bid to assist existing independent retailers in rural areas and provide support…
Rachel PughWednesday March 7, 2007The Guardian First, they did it for the local brewery, then for the village pub, and now the enterprising inhabitants of Hesket Newmarket have set up a cooperative to protect their post office and shop. Members of…
Plunkett and ViRSA have already contributed to the Post Office network consultation process. Please View the PDF by clicking here for full details.
British Food Fortnight is 22nd September – 7th October 2007. The Big Lottery Fund is supportive of the aims & objectives of British Food Fortnight. The Big Lottery Fund encourages people wanting to organise community initiatives during the…
Congratulations to Wrens Shop-East Knoyle (first place), Steeple Ashton Village Shop (second place), and All Cannings Community Store(third place) on their recognition from Wiltshire Life Achievement Awards for Village Shops of the…
The article titled "Locals rally to save village store" appeared in the Sunday Times on 21st January 2007. The article featured Stoke-by-Clare Village Shop in Suffolk and Ropley and West Meon Village Shops in Hampshire. The shop explained…
The article featured in the January 2007 edition. Titled "Counter Attack", the article explaned the history behind the ViRSA community shop movement and examined how communities are helping to prevent the decline of services in rural…
West Meon Village Shop in Hampshire has become the first recipient of Village CORE Programme funding to open its doors. West Meon Village Shop Association received a £20,000 grant from the programme that was matched by community contributions…
DOES COMMUNITY OWNERSHIP OFFER A BRIGHTER FUTURE FOR VILLAGE POST OFFICES? The crisis facing the post office network is dominating the headlines, with 2,500 post offices due to close by 2009. Rural communities look set to bear the brunt of the closures…
Congratulations and thanks to Bicknoller community shop who featured on today’s Radio 4 Today programme. They preceded Alistair Darling’s interview on the future of the post office network. It was a great piece allowing residents to express…
The Commission for Rural Communities have issued a press release responding to the government announcement today on the future of the Post Office network by stating that any changes must not further marginalise the 1 in 5 rural people living in poverty. …
NUMBER 1 MP AGREES TO TAKE UP THE SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES BILL Posted 23/11/2006 Excellent news for the Sustainable Communities Bill Campaign Today Nick Hurd, MP for Ruislip-Northwood, was the first MP drawn in the Private Members Ballot and he has…
Congratulations and thanks to Bicknoller community shop who featured on today’s Radio 4 Today programme. They preceded Alistair Darling’s interview on the future of the post office network. It was a great piece allowing residents to express…
ViRSA, in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance, is now delighted to announce the launch of the Village CORE Programme which will provide £2 million of start-up funding to new community-owned…
ViRSA featured today in an article titled "Rural Communities: We will survive." Read the article featuring Tackley "All-in-one" Centre, Sulgrave Village Shop and Fordhall Farm in Shropshire by clicking on the link below: http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/article1988151.ece
If you''re working for the good of the community, £1,000 can go a very long way. That''s why The Midcounties Co-operative offers grants through The Co-operative Community Dividend Scheme to local organisations that provide a real benefit…