Community Shops Online Network to Launch

A new online network dedicated to community-owned shops is being officially launched on Friday 12 March by the Plunkett Foundation at Thorncombe Community Shop in West Dorset, 11-12.30pm. Oliver Letwin MP, who in addition to being a Thorncombe’s local MP is a volunteer in Thorncombe community shop, will officially launch the new service.

The Community Shops Network (www.plunkett.net.uk) enables communities to access specialist advisory support on a range of issues and factual information relating to setting up a community-owned shop, including legal, financial and retailing advice and Post Office queries. As well as answering questions, the site provides up-to-date information on funding and support programmes, inspirational case studies and a community-owned shops directory. In recent months 150 members have signed-up to the network. Oliver Letwin MP for West Dorset says: “I’ve been involved with the Thorncombe Village Shop since the beginning and my family and I very much enjoy participating as volunteers alongside many other people in the village. Part of the point is that we now have a brilliant village shop but equally as important is how the village has been brought together by this joint endeavour. We are building social capital right here in Thorncombe and we need to do the same up and down the country, through community endeavours of every kind." “Peter Couchman, Chief Executive of Plunkett says: “We are extremely proud to have developed the first ever online network dedicated to community-owned shops which we hope will provide an invaluable service. We believe that rural communities have the right to try to set up community-owned shops when they are threatened with closure. The Community Shops Network will help rural communities to learn from and support each other.” Thorncombe is one of over 50 new community-owned shops which have opening following the support of the Village Core Programme, a dedicated support programme managed by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with the Esmee Fairbairn Foundation and Co-operative and Community Finance. In addition, The Plunkett Foundation has been supporting the producers of BBC Radio 4’s soap The Archers, on their storyline which currently involves a community-owned shop being set-up in Ambridge. For further information about this release please contact Ema Murphy on 01993 814386 or at ema.murphy@plunkett.co.uk. -Ends- Editors’ Notes The launch will take place from 11.00-12.30 including an introduction from Chief Executive of the Plunkett Foundation, Peter Couchman at 11.15, a talk from a Thorncombe community-owned shop representative at 11.35 followed by the official launch by Oliver Letwin MP at 11.50. A Questions and answers and photo session will take place from 12.10 - 12.30. Community Shops Network (www.plunkett.uk.net) is the only national website and network for community-owned rural shops. Run by the Plunkett Foundation, it allows people to communicate with each other, share ideas and experiences and to gain practical advice about setting up and running a community-owned shop. For a community-owned shop directory and specific details about the winning shop go to www.plunkett.uk.net/shops. The Plunkett Foundation (www.plunkett.co.uk) is a national organisation based in Woodstock, Oxfordshire that helps rural communities through community-ownership to take control of the issues important to them. The Plunkett Foundation runs a range of projects and services supporting rural communities to set up and successfully run community-owned enterprises including community-owned shops. Oliver Letwin MP has represented West Dorset since 1997. He almost doubled his majority at the 2005 election. His political interests include agriculture, European community affairs, education, international affairs and international development, social security, trade and industry, and he is the chairman of the Policy Review and of the Conservative Research Department. Involved with numerous charities, including the Weldmar Hospice in Dorchester (of which he is a patron) and the Social Mobility Foundation (of which he is a trustee and former chairman), Oliver holds advice surgeries for constituents in various locations throughout West Dorset. Thorncombe Community Shop was established in 2008 and was officially re-opened on Saturday 17th October 2009. It is run by a Management Committee including 20 to 30 volunteers, a salaried manager and an assistant. In addition to providing vital support for the community it works with local businesses and farms who supply stock for the shop with locally produced food. It is very well supported and is operates as a thriving business. The Village CORE Programme (http://www.plunkett.co.uk/whatwedo/core/Core.cfm) is a three year support programme managed by the Plunkett Foundation in partnership with the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation (http://www.esmeefairbairn.org.uk/) and Co-operative and Community Finance (http://www.co-opandcommunityfinance.coop/). It provides financial start-up packages and advisory support to communities looking to set up a community-owned rural shop. The Village CORE Programme will have supported 60 community-owned rural shops over the three years. The Plunkett Foundation works with the Office of the Third Sector (http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/third_sector.aspx) to promote the role that social enterprise can play in rural communities in England. As part of the Cabinet Office, the Office of the Third Sector (OTS) leads work across government to support the environment for a thriving third sector (voluntary and community groups, social enterprises, charities, cooperatives and mutuals), enabling the sector to campaign for change, deliver public services, promote social enterprise and strengthen communities. The OTS was created at the centre of government in May 2006 in recognition of the increasingly important role the third sector plays in both society and the economy.

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