Village halls and community buildings - advice and support
Village Retail Services Association – ViRSA
ViRSA seeks:
“To maintain the provision of essential retail services to rural communities.”
ViRSA is able to provide the support that enables communities to preserve or revive their last shop through community ownership, or to encourage the establishment of a community-owned shop in a village that does not have a village shop. It also aids the development and implementation of projects to improve the sustainability of existing shops, and to promote and raise awareness of the benefits of community-owned village shops to policy-makers and rural communities.
These activities are delivered by a national fieldworker team, supported with information, expertise and development tools from a national office. The variety of background, experience and expertise of the fieldworkers is noted by many as a key strength, particularly with the blend between retail experience and community development skills.
ViRSA is a registered charity, and fieldworkers are paid from its own resources which in turn are funded from charitable donations and subscriptions. There is no charge for advisory support given to communities in order to establish community-owned shops.
There are now around 170 community-owned village shops in England, almost all of which have been established in the past fifteen years. The rate of formation of these types of enterprise is increasing, as rural communities are finding that community-ownership is often the only way in which they can retain the provision of basic retail services in their village.
Most of these community-owned shops have been established with the support of ViRSA, the Village Retail Services Association, a charity established in 1992 specifically to promote and encourage community-ownership of village shops. ViRSA has recently merged its activities with the Plunkett Foundation, in order to consolidate the achievements it has made to date and to strengthen its capacity to support rural communities to provide essential retail services.
The shops range in size form a tiny converted garage in Yorkshire to an impressive shop, café and IT centre in purpose-built, environmentally friendly premises in Gloucestershire.
While the shops themselves may be very different, every single one is so much more than simply a convenient place to pick up groceries. Each shop plays a vital role in its community: teenage volunteers can find themselves working alongside pensioners and talking to them for the first time; the elderly have somewhere where they can pop in for a chat; people no longer have to take to their cars if they simply want a pint of milk, and the shop truly becomes the life and soul of the community.
At a time when the social fabric of village life is extremely fragile, community ownership is a tried and tested model that benefits the wider rural community. It’s a refreshingly positive story for the countryside as a whole.
Case Studies
a) The residents of Middleton Tyas, in North Yorkshire, opened a shop following the closure of the sole village shop and Post Office in 2003 - after being in business for more than 100 years. The closure shocked the villagers, many of whom are elderly, and a group of them, led by a district councillor, ran a survey to find out whether there was room to set up a community-owned store. The idea received overwhelming support. Substantial donations and a Defra grant allowed the village to convert a former reading room into a shop, which started trading in August 2004.
b) Yarpole Village Shop –The village shop and Post Office in Yarpole were previously integral to a resident’s house, and were therefore not available to be re-used.
A public meeting was attended by 110 people with support from a further 15 non attendees. Twelve people initially volunteered to form a steering group (including 2 food retailers, a book keeper and an architect). The parish is spread over four communities, none of which has a shop, and the population has a high number of older people, some of whom had limited access to other shops because of the poor public transport.
After talks with the pub landlord and the owners of the premises, it was agreed to place a temporary portable building on a paddock next to the pub car park (at a peppercorn rent.) The shop opened in April 2005 and the Post Office opened in June.
Many villagers use the facility as a social meeting place which encourages spending. The shop currently run solely by volunteers, is also planning to employ a part-time paid manager.
c) Laughton Village Shop - The East Sussex village of Laughton is small, spread out over a large area with only a few hundred residents. As in most villages the privately owned shop and post office also provided an important meeting place but closed in 1993 after some years of financial difficulties.
However some of the Parish Council got together with other members of the village to form a committee to consider what could be done to re-open the shop. Everybody felt that it was important that the shop was owned by the village community. One very generous member of the committee provided finance for the initial purchase. It was decided that an Industrial Provident Society would be the best form of trading entity for the shop.
The Laughton Village Shop Association Limited was established, and the property was acquired for £66,000. Every resident of the village was invited to join and become a shareholder, and also subscribe towards the cost of the property. As a result the majority joined the Association and over 50% of the cost of the property was raised from the residents of the village with loans varying from £50 to £5,000.
Laughton Village Shop and Post Office finally re-opened on 24 February 1995. The flat and garage were let separately and the rent from these still provide the finance to pay the interest on the balance of the loan for the property.
In 2002 the Village Shop Association successfully applied for a Countryside Agency grant to convert the back room of the shop into a community space which now has computer and internet access, amongst many other facilities and space (just!) to socialise or read the newspapers.
The Committee feels everyone should have a stake in their village shop and that it should be widely supported and membership is open to all in the village by buying a £10 share. Ten years on Laughton has a flourishing shop and Post Office at its heart and is a wonderful meeting place and purveyor of village information.
ViRSA is an activity of the Plunkett Foundation.
For more information please contact ViRSA at The Quadrangle, Banbury Road, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1LH Tel: 01993 814377 Fax: 01993 810849 Virsa@plunkett.co.uk www.virsa.org
Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE)
Defra works closely with ACRE to support the activities of rural communities. ACRE is a national charity that works with other various governmental and non-governmental bodies to promote sustainable development in rural communities. It acts as the umbrella organisation for Rural Community Councils (RCCs), providing support and advice to organisations and individuals interested in rural England. From time to time ACRE acts as a delivery agent for Defra. For example, they administer the Village Hall Loan Fund on behalf of Defra.
Village hall information and advice is delivered by ACRE through its network of village hall advisers, who are based in Rural Community Councils across England. The village hall adviser in your County should be your first source of information, advice, training and advocacy on all aspects of charity law, management activities, care of premises, social and contractual relationships and trading. All rural community hall managers can contact Village Hall Advisers for advice and support.
Details of your local RCC contact are available from the ACRE website.
ACRE acts as a forum for all those interested in village halls. Interested parties who have a query or wish to share best practice or seek advice or network can email ACRE.
It is worth visiting the ACRE website for a list of their publications, advice and information.
Community Matters
Community Matters is the nationwide federation for community associations
and similar organisations, with 1100 member organisations across the UK.
Originally established as the National Federation of Community Associations
in 1945, Community Matters has played a key role in promoting and supporting
action by ordinary people in response to
social, educational and recreational needs in their neighbourhoods and
communities.
The following services are available and are targeted at volunteer management committees and managers:
- Email advice service (informationandadvice@communitymatters.org.uk)
- Community Consultancy Service (usually one-day on-site visits)
- Major consultancy service (usually higher level, multi-day provision)
- Training (a range of modular and bespoke services)
- Information sheets (80+ fact-sheets kept up to date)
- Publications (larger scale publications on a wide range of issues)
- Reference Manual (detailed manual on the management of community organisations)
- Magazine (bi-monthly magazine with latest information and opportunities)
- E-newsletter (bi-monthly electronic newsletter)
Typical areas of advice covered are governance, management of buildings, regulation and legal requirements, employment, finance and funding, activities and relationship management.
To find out more visit the website or telephone the help-line on 08707 272373 (9:30am – 1pm and 2pm
– 5pm daily).
Development Trust Association
Development Trusts are defined as organisations which are:
Engaged in the economic, environmental and social regeneration of a defined area or community
This means setting up and running an inclusive mix of services or facilities which respond to the needs of a community. Projects undertaken by DTA members include property development, managed workspace, community businesses, arts programmes, sports and leisure facilities, building restoration, environmental improvement, education work, employment training, information services, community development, social provision, health centres, and so on. Development trusts are found in a variety of locations including market and coastal towns, rural communities. All have a defined sense of place. Additionally, for some people community means not just place but also identification with a common group. This may be at least as important as identification with the neighbourhood or area in which they live.
Independent, self-sufficient or aiming for self sufficiency, and not for private profit
Development trusts are in the business of sustainable change. As independent organisations they avoid over-reliance on a single funder, and also aim to reduce dependence on grant-aid in the long term. To do so, they may create an income-earning asset base, and build up trading operations or contract income.
Since 2003 the DTA has had a dedicated rural staff member to champion Development Trusts who operate in the countryside. Working across England and linking with Scotland, Wales and beyond when opportunity arises.
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Page last modified:
4 September, 2007
Page published: XX November, 2005