It always starts with a few bright sparks
An intrepid small group chatting and decided that Minety needed a shop. The village had a thriving sport and social scene at the Pavilion, a number of businesses, a popular church, many farms, popular pre- and primary schools, its own music festival, annual beer festival and a brilliant fireworks display, but no shop to serve its 1,400 residents!
Conversations had been going on since the end of 2017 but fundraising started in earnest towards the end of 2018 to enable them to buy a local Hall that had come up for sale. A share scheme was launched and today, 58 households own 624 shares in the community shop. By the end of March 2019 that had raised over £14k thanks to a Lottery Community Fund grant of £10k.
Part of their fundraising efforts included a local pop-up store in the bus shelter selling essentials, which generated interest and conversation, but then came the dreaded coronavirus and lockdown.
This galvanised the efforts of the volunteers and with the Village Hall’s kind offer of the use of their committee room as a base – the local shop was born in one weekend with borrowed trestle tables, fridges and shelves.
Initially managed by Rachel Swatton with the support of Committee members, and following all appropriate precautions, visitors were welcomed. The shop opened managed by a few volunteers (suitably bubbling if you remember those days) handling the morning supermarket runs, setup, stocktaking, and evening restocks – initially seven days a week. All necessary safety precautions were put in place with hand sanitisers, single or limited customers inside, marked queues outside, and doorstep deliveries for isolating residents.
During this time there were many perceived shortages of materials but in some cases, it was packaging issues rather than supply. At one point, the shop sourced flour by the sack and reweighed it in the village hall kitchen. A Facebook post about bread flour triggered a two-hour queue, illustrating demand for baking supplies and the shop’s reputation for either having items or getting them by the next day.
We also received two additional grants in this period – £1,200 for the Wiltshire Community Foundation and £3,500 from the Princess Countryside Fund. These allowed us to improve our sink and catering facilities, introduce some required Health & Safety training for the volunteers and put some outdoor seating.
The Grand Opening
The success of the shop during the pandemic was clear to see – both in the sales and in the feedback from the residents. The shop was here to stay. So, the volunteers got to work and on one weekend in August 2020, they set to work. A floor was laid, counter built and shelves installed, together with more fridges and freezers and plenty of stock.
The shop was formally opened on 5th September 2020 – which drew a large crowd of eager shoppers. The first full week of trading took over £600.
It was clear that the shop would be here to stay for a while and so all the back end systems were put in place including tills and payment systems, licences, HSE and FCA requirements and much more that we just do not see.
The Shop Today
The shop provides over 1000 essential stock items, as well as a wide range of locally sourced goods, thus helping the local economy. The last five years have seen a range of additions, most notably a container for storage, a small but perfectly formed café area with hot drinks and cakes and, most recently, meal deals and a Christmas pop-up shop.
Regularly hosting a range of events for fundraising and just for fun, the shop is now a permanent feature of the village. Based in the committee room in Minety Village Hall, we sell a wide range of produce and our villagers love having a shop again.
The shop future
The Shop is now over five years old and a vital, much-loved part of the local community. It is run by our Manager, Assistant Manager, Committee and a small army of volunteers.
However, we are full to bursting in the Village Hall committee room. And remember, this use of the committee room was supposed to be a temporary pandemic arrangement. So we are now planning to build ourselves new, larger premises in the village to expand our products and services for the community.
Watch this space to hear more.
The Important bits
Minety Community Shop Ltd (MCS) is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as a Community Benefit Society (CBS). It is a ‘not for profit’ organisation and any excess profits or funds can be used for the benefit of the community.
Society name: Minety Shop | Registration date: 18 May 2018
Community shops are owned by their members/shareholders and are democratically run on a one-person-one-vote via an AGM.
The Committee is accountable to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and advised by the Plunkett Foundation. Strategic direction and oversight are the responsibility of a committee. Operational management and day to day running of the shop are in the job description of the salaried manager, supported by an assistant manager.