Polstead Community Shop
Additional Product Ranges
- Crafts
- Books
- Maps
The beginning
Twenty five years ago, in March 1984, Polstead Community Shop was opened in a converted second-hand caravan based in an old orchard next to the green in the centre of the village.
Polstead is in beautiful countryside off the beaten track in Suffolk, in the Dedham Vale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It has a population of about 800 people, including children, scattered in five hamlets over a very wide area, with some 250 living in the centre of the village within generous walking distance of the village green. There is almost no passing trade except for delivery vans, some walkers and the occasional cyclist or visitor. We truly cater for the village.
The idea of a community shop was born in October 1983. Polstead had been without a shop for ten years, and although there were no community shops at all in Suffolk then (and only a handful in England), we took advice from the Rural Community Council for Suffolk (now Suffolk ACRE). After public meetings and wide consultation in the village, the steering committee of about a dozen people felt able to venture into the unknown.
Only five months after the idea was first put to the village, the shop opened. It had cost a grand total of £2000, much of it raised in the village with trading bonds, fund-raising events and donations, and the rest provided by loans from the parish council, Babergh District Council and one or two local charities (all these loans were paid back within a year). The caravan was generously given to us, as was a lot of the equipment, and the land we were on was leased from a local farming family for a peppercorn rent. We had support from everyone we approached.
From the first week we opened it seemed likely that the idea was going to work, since we more than doubled our initial takeover estimate. During the next few years we were delighted to win quite a few awards and to attract a great deal of publicity, appearing on national TV and radio and in the press and magazines. We exceeded all our expectations.
The new premises
Three years after we had opened, in September 1987, we moved into a small purpose-built extension to the village hall next door, built largely by voluntary labour and costing about £11,000 to complete. This time grants were forthcoming instead of loans, although we undertook an intensive six months of fund-raising in the village too.
The Post Office
In 1999 the Post Office, housed until then in a private garage across the green, moved into the shop following the retirement of the postmistress. We are fortunate that it is still there today, providing an invaluable service as well as local employment. We took the opportunity at the time to remodel the inside of the shop to accommodate the Post Office and to freshen our image.
How we are run
The shop is non-profit-making, with all surplus funds being reinvested in the shop or to help other village organizations. Entirely volunteer-run, it is open for 28 hours a week (the Post Office is open every morning). Volunteers have always numbered between two to three dozen and the regulars usually give a couple of hours every week or two. There is no manager, but we have a management committee, elected annually, and the various tasks are shared. Over the years scores of people have been involved one way or another in running the shop, the reason being, perhaps, that everyone enjoys it so much. It has proved a wonderful way for newcomers to meet new people and for the rest to keep in touch. We have tried to provide over the years what Polstead wants.
Stock
We stock everything that you would expect in a good village store, including as much local produce as possible – and that means honey, free-range eggs, apple juice, cakes, pies, jams and chutneys and many fruit and vegetables. We also sell Polstead shopping bags, tea towels, postcards, footpath maps, as well as books and cards, some home-made. Our bread, meat, bacon, ham and ice cream, among many other products, are sourced locally too and are much sought-after. There is a pub on the green, which we value, so we do not stock alcohol or cigarettes.
Social focus
Most importantly, the shop has been from the beginning the indispensable social focus for the village that we hoped it would be. It is a place where villagers can meet, exchange news and views, and help make village life go round.
Our long-lived success, due to the sustained and strong commitment of so many people for the past quarter of a century, has been a source of great pride and satisfaction to the whole village.