Ilsington Community Shop Newsletter No.1 December 2009
As I am sure some of you will know, the Community
Shop Project, in conjunction with the Village Hall, reached an exciting moment
in its fledgling career when Dartmoor National Park finally granted permission
for construction of a new annexe to house the shop and a meeting room.
With this all-important permission in place, we are
now ready to get on with the next phase - raising funds.
There are several different possible sources of grants and loans aimed
at just such a project as ours and, working closely with the Village Hall
Committee, we will be applying for as many of them as we can. This is where your help and support becomes even more important - many of the institutions we will be applying to will be looking very closely at the
strength of local support when making
their decisions. Evidence of a united
and supportive community is (rightly)
considered crucial to the viability of the whole scheme. If
we can show that the community is strongly in favour of the shop, it makes for a considerably better case.
With this in mind we are aiming to raise in the region of £20,000, which will then be matched and supplemented by
further grants.
Here is how you can get involved;
All Community Shops must have "shareholders" - namely anyone wishing to buy a share in the shop. Share sales, whilst not a
major fundraiser, provide the first
all-important bedrock of local involvement. The shares cost £5 each and can be bought by as many members of the household as
would like them. Even if a recent win on the Euro Lottery means you generously choose to buy several
thousand shares, each
individual is still only entitled to one vote. Being a shareholder gives you a stake in your local
shop and the right to attend the Annual
General Meeting and have a say in how the shop is run. You can print a Share Application Form by clicking here or obtain one
from the post office.
We are planning to organise some fund raising events over the next
several months and would appreciate as much
support as possible - if anyone has any ideas
for a good fund raising function, please let us know! Details of the forthcoming events will be posted on the
Ilsington Parish website:- www.ilsingtonparish.co.uk, advertised
locally and in the Parish Magazine, and on the Village Hall website:-
www.ilsingtonvillagehall.co.uk.
Donations
We now have a dedicated bank account for the scheme
and have already been fortunate enough to raise
nearly £1000 Still a long way to go but a very promising start and if anyone wishes to make it even more with an
individual donation, please contact either Sue
Norris on 01364-661128 or send a cheque made
out to Ilsington Village Shop to Sue at 17 Town Meadow, Ilsington, Newton Abbot TQ13 9RY.
The new roof will need somewhere in the region of 2,500 slates and we
are offering the unique opportunity to buy one (or several!)for £2 each, which
will then have your name and the date written
on the back before being used on the roof.
The shop will be staffed by a volunteer crew plus a
salaried part time manager to oversee the day to day running and provide
some organisational continuity. We do have a list of those of you who
expressed an interest at our first
meeting last year but would welcome any new interest as the bigger the workforce,
the less onerous each member’s commitment need be.
The Committee will continue updating the Parish website with regard to the progress of the project. The
Community Shop and the meeting room will be a
huge benefit both for individuals and the village as a whole so I do hope you feel you can help make this happen.
If you would
like to buy shares, tiles or make a donation, please print a form by clicking here.
If you would like more information - please contact Alan Hobbs on 01364-661576