Archive for the ‘Uncategorised’ Category

We would like to welcome on board Anne Parkinson who is joining the team as Assistant Manager.

He couldn't make it to our Second Birthday party, so Mel Stride, a staunch supporter of our Community Shop from the start, asked if he could come along for a private visit to celebrate with us.
An impromptu but splendid tea party with volunteers and committee members was held in the shop and Mel joined us in celebrating another fantastic year of trading in our amazing shop!

Great news! After our first full year of trading, Ilsington Village Shop would like to announce that £3000 is to be made available to organisations within Ilsington Parish to help fund specific initiatives or activities that will be of benefit to the community. For further information and an application form, please go here. Applications to be received by 21st July 2014.

Extract from the Mid-Devon Advertiser: "More than 20 individuals and organisations considered to have made positive contributions to Dartmoor life in the past five years were recognised in a ceremony at Holne Park, Ashburton.
Among those receiving certificates from the national park authority were Ashburton Cookery School and organisers of the Moretonhampstead Food and Drink Festival.
Ilsington Community Shop was also singled out for praise as was the Gidleigh Commoners' Association for its archaeological preservation work and Buckfast Abbey where a building prokect was described as 'an exemplar of high quality design in a sensitive location'.
Television and radio personality Judi Spiers presented the 21 framed certificates after chief executive Dr Kevin Bishop told guests they were being handed to those who had helped deliver different aspects of the previous DNPA five year management plan.

Starting on Friday 7 March, the shop is running a Craft Showcase Fortnight celebrating some of the fabulous local talent we have in our Community. Please pop along and browse some unique and wonderful gifts – perfect for Mother's Day, Easter Day or for treating yourself, of course!

    We are very proud to announce that Ilsington Village Shop has been awarded a certificate of achievement from Dartmoor National Park. "In recognition of the hard work and commitment of the Ilsington Village Shop group in establishing a successful social enterprise and much valued local community facility." You should all give yourselves a pat on the back!

      Ilsington Shop was mentioned in Mel Stride MP 2013 edition of Reporting Back. Mel has been a staunch supporter of Ilsington Village Shop since before the build was even started. It's nice to know that this free paper was delivered to all households in Central Devon, thus spreading the word about Ilsington Village Shop and indeed Community Shops throughout the County.

Extract from the Mid Devon Advertiser: Friday 2 August 2013 Villagers in Ilsington have celebrated the first year of their community shop where trading has exceeded all expectations. The community lost its commercially operated store four years ago, prompting residents to take matters into their own hands. They set about raising £250,000 to upgrade the village hall, creating a meeting room and retail space. It had been hoped that by the end of the first year the business would have taken £110,000. Instead the final figure is closer to £170,000 and chairman Alan Hobbs could not be more pleased. "It's brilliant," he said. "We've been really well supported by the community, that's partly because we're in a great location where we get mums coming out from pre-school and children from the primary school. It's not just a shop but a meeting place where people stop for a chat and to catch up on the gossip." Mr Hobbs said with an eight-strong committee, one part time manager and 50 volunteers, the results were a credit to the whole village. Future plans include an outdoor seating area where customers can enjoy tea and coffee to further strengthen the shop's appeal. "We've already noticed that some people are now changing their shopping habits and rather than going into Newton Abbot once a week for a supermarket, are visiting us every day," said Mr Hobbs. "It was quite an expensive project to convert the village hall but clearly worth it." "We didn't realise just how hard it would be to run a shop though, whether it's ordering stock, changing what we sell at different times of the year or doing the accounts. It's been a steep learning curve and we've a lot of people to thank for where we are today, it's been a good journey."

Extract from @Home Newsletter: "The Plunkett Foundation has announced the six winners of their first ever UK Community Shop Awards. The awards celebrate and reward communities which have rallied to save their village shop through community-ownership.

The winning village shops were announced at a national ceremony on the 26th June. The Ilsington Commuunity Shop near Newton Abbot, where some of our residents live, was just pipped to the post in the "Contribution to Community Life" category, sponsored by Hastoe."

  Alan, Emma and Kirsten went up to Oxford for the Plunkett Award ceremony on Wednesday 26 June. Unfortunately we did not win but we did receive a Runners Up certificate with a lovely letter from Hannah at the Plunkett Foundation: "Congratulations on being a Community Shop Award runner up. I hope you enjoyed the event yesterday. I very much enjoyed meeting the stars of the applications! You should feel very proud of your achievement, you are one of the three best community shops in the UK in your section! A huge achievement!" And she is definitely right! The fact that at the time of entering the competition, we had only been open for 10 months makes our achievement even greater. Roll on next year – we will blow all the competition out of the water!!