Our Plan

• To provide a permanent community shop;
• To provide additional facilities – like a community café.

Since  launching the Emergency Shop as a team of volunteers, we have – with help from the Plunkett Foundation – become a registered Community Benefit Society (Brent Knoll Community Shop Limited): registered number 8416. This means that we are now established as a Community Benefit Society, controlled by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). That enabled us to open our own bank account, and to apply for grants.

As a Community Benefit Society, under the aegis of the Plunkett Foundation, we have now conducted a Membership Share-Sale, secured more than 160 shareholding members, and held our first three Annual Members' Meetings.

Those Annual Members’ Meetings - plus subsequent co-options - elected the seven members of our Management Committee:

• David Yates (Chairman)
• Bob Smith, (Treasurer)
• Caroline Sturgess (Book-keeper)
• David Sturgess (Secretary)
• Kate Tucker (head of procedures)
• Kim Willcox (head of grant applications)
• Lucy White (head of purchasing)
• Michelle Cole (Vice Chair)

Since then, we have gone from strength to strength. 

THE SHOP:

- We continue to trade profitably;

- We have now moved from the Portakabin into the new building, for which we are paying about £60,000 to have converted a basic shell to provide an accessible modern shop.

-  Meanwhile we're seeking people to join our wonderful team of more than 30 volunteers to enable us to extend our opening hours in the new shop - please pick up a "Will you lend us a hand?" leaflet in the shop to register your interest.