Thanks to everyone who volunteered to help set up and run a community shop and cafe in Broad Hinton. We have formed a steering group to plan, set up and run the shop with 5 members; Alex LaRoche, Anna Solinis, Claire Le Gresley, Tash Morshead, and Adam Gilmore. We also have lots of volunteers that will help run the shop once it is set up.
Our vision for the White Horse Community Shop and Café is to have a place that is open throughout the week where people can drop in for a coffee, have a friendly chat, and buy local, sustainable and essential goods.
The steering group have had a highly informative meeting with the Plunkett Foundation (https://plunkett.co.uk/) where we went through how to plan, fund, and set up a community shop and cafe. The Plunkett Foundation helped The Winterbourne get set up as a community owned pub.
The next steps for the steering group are to form a Community Benefit Society, set up a bank account and produce a business plan.
The steering group would still benefit from more help to produce and execute the business plan, especially if you work in construction (builders, quantity surveyors etc...) or if you have retail, hospitality or marketing experience. If you are interested, please contact Alex LaRoche on 07974 398640 or alexlaroche88@gmail.com to discuss.
BBC Countryfile had a great segment a few Sundays ago on community owned pubs and shops – see https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001wks6/countryfile-snowdrops from 20m30s.
Thanks,
White Horse Community Shop and Cafe