East Harptree Community Shop

GOOD NEWS FOR THE EAST HARPTREE VILLAGE SHOP PROJECT The Village Shop Project may seem to have been quiet since the public meetings in October, but in fact there has been intense activity behind the scenes. A thorough, professional research project was commissioned and carried out in the Parish with very positive results. It shows that there is a strong desire for a new shop providing a basic range of provisions as well as being a centre for the community. 74 households in the village were randomly selected for face to face research and the remainder were given postal questionnaires. From the 250 households in the East Harptree parish, a total of over 60% responded to the questionnaire giving the Sub Committee detailed information on which to base the final results. The key messages coming from the survey were; There is a definite desire for a shop providing basics and key community services and information The inclusion of a café would be very well received A book swap facility was seen as a good idea With volunteer involvement a well run village shop could certainly be financially viable 70% of respondents were interested in becoming a partner in a community run shop 40% were interested in investing in the project with the proceeds re-invested back into the shop and community 62% were interested in a loyalty scheme These last three points give an indication as to just how keen people are for East Harptree to have its own shop. So one 1/3 of the feasibility study is complete. The next phase is to use these findings to put together a business plan and look more closely at potential premises before final decisions about feasibility can be taken in the New Year. In the mean time, the hugely successful Friday Shopping Club continues and funding is now available to keep the service running until the end of March 2007. If you would like more information about The Village Shop Project in East Harptree or how you can help please email: ehcommunityshop@tiscali.co.uk for the latest updates, or contact Chris Head on 220061 or Mari Martin on 221820 Research Summary (PDF file)