Ilsington Community Shop Newsletter No.4 - May 2010

Onward and upward with the Ilsington Community Project - fund raising is continuing apace and we have now raised over £12,500 and have so far managed to secure grants totalling £17,500.

With funds accruing, we have now appointed local Chartered Accountant Derek Lockett to help us with our accounts. Derek has expressed great interest in our project and we look forward to working with him. Following his appointment, Derek has kindly offered to carry out some of the initial set-up work free of charge for which we are hugely grateful.

The Fund Raising event on Saturday 8 May went very well with many people joining in and enjoying the cycle, walk, cream tea eating or having their cars enthusiastically washed. Many thanks to Kim Raine and Claire Nicholls for all their efforts - the day raised over ??? (waiting to hear from Kim)

Many thanks to all those of you who took the time to fill in the questionnaires we distributed last month. We had a 25% return which, according to those who know about these things, is very impressive!  For anyone who missed out and would like to complete a questionnaire, there will be copies available at the Community Market in the Ilsington Village Hall on Saturday 15 May or you can download it from www.ilsingtonparish.co.uk. Please do fill one out if you have not already done so - the information we are able to gather is invaluable and it will all help to create the shop that you want.

Finally, the usual plea - in order to stand a realistic chance of getting the larger grants, we need to raise £25,000 from the community as proof of strong local support and commitment. We are half way there which is fantastic but we still need to find the next half so any fund raising suggestions, comments or ideas would be greatly appreciated or you can, of course, just donate money!

For further information about the project please contact either Sue Norris on 01364-661128 or Alan Hobbs on 01364-661576. If you would like to make a donation or buy shares or slates, please click here to download a Share Application Form.

For further progress reports please look at the Parish website -www.ilsingtonparish.co.uk or the village hall website -www.ilsingtonvillagehall.co.uk

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.

Don’t forget the Community Market on Saturday 15 May at the Ilsington Village Hall from 1:00 to 4:00 - come pick up some delicious local meat, fresh bread, vegetables, eggs, cakes, jams and crafts. Teas, bacon rolls and homemade cakes available all afternoon.  

Next Community Market; 26 June, 2010