Ollaberry Community Enterprises Ltd
Casestudy from www.racetothetop.org
Ollaberry is in many ways a typical scattered community, set around a pretty bay within the district of Northmaven, 33 miles from the main town and capital, Lerwick. But in February 1993, when faced with the closure of their shop, the inhabitants of Ollaberry decided to take action. A meeting was organised by the community council in response to local concern - it was widely felt that if Ollaberry didn''t have a shop, young people might move away and the village would die. In a wider context, the lack of a shop could have a deleterious effect on the health and wellbeing of the community. Although there was a small store seven miles from the village, Ollaberry residents faced the prospect of a 20 - 30 mile round trip to buy any fresh fruit and vegetables. Certainly the Scottish Office, in ''Eating for Health: A Diet Action Plan for Scotland'' has recognised that limited availability of healthy foods such as fruit and vegetables of an acceptable quality and cost and the difficult of access to the larger retailers who sell a good range of fresh food is a distinct barrier to health.
The turn-out at the public meeting was high and a steering committee was formed with a view to trying to buy the shop as a community; Jessie Copland and Jane Brown, local residents who were both on the original steering committee, explain that this plan was abandoned when it was valued at well below the figure the owners were expecting. In the absence of any other suitable premises to lease, buy or convert, a new build quickly turned out to be the only other viable option.They discovered that if they formed a co-operative and raised funds locally they could secure match funding of up to £10,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise and this seemed the perfect solution. To raise the cash required, local people were asked to buy shares in the new co-op at £50 a time. In all, with a combination of grants, and loans, which they are still paying back, they raised about £120,000, formulated a business plan and took a lease on a local authority industrial site in the village. As a fully fledged co-operative, they also got in touch with The Co-operative Group (then known as CWS) to see how it could help.
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Village shop a "rip-roaring success"
Ollaberry community shop in Shetland is a good example of the fact that you don''t have to climb the co-opportunity ladder - you can, if you want, go right in at the top level! Ollaberry is a tiny village in a rural area. In 1993, it was rumoured that the village was going to lose its only shop. The local people had two choices: buy premises and set up a community co-op or lose their shop altogether.The community decided to set up its own community co-op and eight local people formed a steering committee.The group approached their council to buy a plot of land near the local garage. To raise the cash they needed to buy it, local people were asked to buy shares in the new co-op at £50 a time. £12,000 was raised locally and matched pound for pound by Shetland Islands Council. It was able to make use of local initiatives which look favourably upon community enterprise. Further funding came from the local council and another Shetland Island Initiative called START (Shetland Telecentres And Rural Training).
The shop was fitted out with shelves and fridges by CWS (now the Co-operative Group) who also helped with the range of products. Ollaberry is a corporate member of the Co-operative Group, which means it can sell Co-op Brand products and make use of the CWS distribution system. The shop, which employs several staff, opened in October 1995 and has been a rip-roaring success ever since. Ollaberry identified the need for a community co-op because of the situation it found itself in. The steering group got the community to rally round and invest in the store.
Article from http://www.co-operative.co.uk