Welcome to our website!
This website gives you an opportunity to read about the progress of our project, and will develop steadily as we work towards our goal. This is a project to establish a community-run shop in the existing store unit in Tynedale Road, Strood Green, Surrey – a shop run by the community, for the community. It will be called, simply, The Shop at Strood Green. But it’s not going to be just a shop! For more detailed information about the project, have a look at Our Aims.
This project has stemmed from a three-year chain of events, so we are now able to build on a lot of hard work previously put in during 2005-6. We are lucky enough to have the support of ViRSA (Village Retail Services Association) and Surrey Community Action, and we are receiving a great deal of help from local professionals, individuals and companies (see Contributors).
By following the model of many other community-run shops around the country, we are taking advantage of the hard work already done by other communities. We intend to implement what we consider to be the best ideas and those most appropriate for our area.
During the spring and summer of 2008, we have concentrated on fund-raising to enable us to strip out and enlarge the old shop unit, rewire, replumb, build a new shop-front with disabled and wheelchair access, and fit a kitchen/storage area and staff toilet. We have held Open Mornings in the shop, selling donated home-made cakes, jams, home-grown veg, secondhand books etc.; we also sourced, displayed and sold local produce at these events such as Sussex rapeseed and sunflower oils, Surrey and Sussex cheese, locally made ice-cream, pasta, pies and chocolate. We have been encouraging people in the community to grow produce for the shop to sell. During the summer we made sure we had stalls at the local village fairs and we are planning an autumn promotion - a Pumpkin Fest! on 25 & 30 October - to be followed by a Christmas celebration with carol-singing, mince pies and mulled wine on 19 December.
LATEST NEWS:
WE HAVE RECEIVED CONFIRMATION OF OUR £20,000 loan, which along with the £20,000 already raised, makes us eligible for a matching £20,000 grant from the Village CORE Programme - £60,000 in total!
BUILDING WORK is under way, with the design for the shopfront being put out to tender, and specifications for extending the shop being drawn up. A WORK PARTY day will be held soon to strip out the shop - all volunteers are welcome.