Halstock Village Shop Ltd
Halstock: the start of something big
ViRSA was founded in 1991 by Derek Smith in response to the threatened closure of the village shop in Halstock. Halstock was therefore the first community owned village shop assited by ViRSA.
Building Rural Communities
In 1991, the village shop in Halstock, Dorset closed. To save this vital focus for the community’s social activity the villagers rallied support and Halstock Village Shop Limited was established to reopen the village shop and post office. More recently a new shop has been built in the centre of the village, also housing a post office, community room and two residential flats.
But work didn’t stop there. Recognising that many other rural communities face similar circumstances, the directors of Halstock Village Shop Limited set up the Village Retail Services Association (ViRSA). ViRSA’s objective is to provide a national focus to help other village communities nationwide to keep their retail services. As Richard Fry, one of the founding members of ViRSA says, “Our sole aim is to ensure that rural communities are kept together.”
Article from the winter 2002 edition of Triodos news
Radio link from Postcards from Dorset