We are delighted that BBC Spotlight, BBC Radio Devon and BBC Online have taken an interest in our story.
And in case this is the first time you have heard about our project, here is a summary.
Cheriton Fitzpaine Community Shop is a not for profit, community benefit society, run by volunteers and our shop manager, Kevin. And we have been operating successfully from our current site, on a corner of land owned by the Methodists, since May 2018. However, our lease with the Methodists expires in December 2027 and we have no right to renew. We therefore need a long-term home for the shop, otherwise the village will lose its only shop.
In April 2024, the Methodist Chapel closed to worship and the Methodists have offered us the chance to purchase the Chapel. This will ensure both the future of the Shop, but also allow us to save the Chapel, repair it, and renovate it to provide a larger community shop, café and a space to display local arts and crafts.
Save the Shop
Our first goal was to raise the money to purchase the Chapel.
We’ve raised £106,100 through a Community Share Offer, with 220 individuals investing in this project, as well as our local pub The Ring Of Bells. We now have a total of 330 members (or shareholders).
We applied to the Co-operatives UK for equity grant funding and are delighted that the Community Shares ICOF are planning to provide us with £40,000 of equity investment*. Over time we expect to be able to pay this back alongside the other Community Shares. Each investor in our Community Shares has one vote, irrespective of how much equity investment they hold.
We are still negotiating with the Methodists, but we believe we will now have enough funds to purchase the Chapel and carry out the essential repairs.
Once we have purchased the Chapel, we will have saved the Shop from closure.
Save the Chapel
The next step will be to carry out the conversion work.
We have some funds held in reserve, which we have built up over the last few years in the knowledge we needed to find a long-term home.
And so far in this financial year, over £12,500 has been raised through donations and a range of fundraising events, with £6,600 raised by local artists through their Grand Art Draw and Grand Art Auction. The level of support from our community has been amazing and just reinforces how important the shop is to so many people.
We estimate we will still need between £60,000 and £90,000 to complete the renovation and conversion work. And how quickly we will be able to do that work will to some extent depend on how successful we are in obtaining grants to put towards the work. If you would like to find out more, please do contact us at cfcommunityshop@gmail.com
**The equity grant is an investment in our community shares through Community Shares ICOF, branded as the Community Shares Fund.
