Kington St. Michael Community Shop
In addition to general groceries we offer a Self Service Post Point following the closure of our Post Office in April 2008.
The New Era
Kington St Michael near Chippenham was the first shop to be supported under the Rural Revival campaign, a Plunkett/Virsa partnership.
After the original shop and post office closed in 2003, the Parish Council along with villagers worked hard to restore these facilities in part of the old church school. Thanks to Rural Revival, subsequest grants from a number of other sources and local fundraising efforts, the new shop and post office were opened on Friday 26th March 2004.
Article edited from Talking Shop, May 2004
Kington St. Michael and Rural Revival
Kington St. Michael is a village of about 685 residents in Wiltshire. The village is surrounded by agricultural land, and its residents include many elderly people and young mothers. The last shop closed in February 2003, leaving a void in the village and causing social isolation for many of its residents. Market research conducted following the closure indicated that over half of the residents were prepared to participate in and support the establishment of a community-owned shop in the village.
After a year of voluntary effort by local residents, plans are now at an advanced stage for a new shop and post-office to be opened in part of the village hall. The community have raised the majority of the capital required for the project from private donations and grants from local authorities. Rural Revival is providing the remainder of the financial package and is working through ViRSA with the management committee to complete the business plan and examine the viability of a credit union, to be run out of the shop. The shop is an IPS.
Article from http://www.ruralrevival.org.uk/html/social_enterprise/caseexamplesmain.html