Hampstead Norreys Community Shop celebrates 14 years in business

A village community shop has celebrated 14 years of service.

Hampstead Norreys Community Shop and Café marked its 14th anniversary on Wednesday, March 26, with banners and cake.

Staff, volunteers and members of Wednesday’s dementia-friendly Lunch Club gathered for the occasion at the shop while its chef prepared lunch.

Honorary secretary Elizabeth Howard, a volunteer member of the management committee, told newburytoday small businesses face a number of difficulties, but that the shop looks forward to celebrating another 14 years.

She said: “We are proud to be a community-owned business with a mission to be so much more than just ‘a village store’.

“It was set up, and is still run, by a group of volunteers who came together after the village lost its retail outlets. Since then the business has grown to employ a number of local people too.

“Our focus is on offering exceptional, locally sourced and environmentally friendly products, as well as the usual groceries, alongside providing a warm and welcoming space for all ages.”

The shop also organises activities for children, most recently a photography competition.

Its next event is an Easter Bonnet making competition.

It also runs a Little Owls Club for children in conjunction with the local Owl Conservation Project to encourage bio-diversity in its heritage fruit orchard.

Villagers conceived the idea of a community shop in the late 90s after losing their village shop and post office.

It took more than a decade for their vision to come to life, opening in The Courtyard in 2011.

It has since received many accolades, including when it was named Britain’s Best Village Shop in the Countryside Alliance Awards in 2019.