All About Us
We are a friendly and welcoming “real” village shop run by the community for the community offering a wide range of goods and services to our customers, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year. A team of enthusiastic volunteers endeavour to meet all your every day shopping needs with hundreds of food and household products, tobacco and newspapers. We have regular deliveries of fresh products: bread and milk 3 times a week; meat 2 times a week. We have a section of fresh fruit and vegetables. An Outreach Post Office visits two mornings a week, and we can arrange a dry cleaning collection service. We have hot and cold drinks, which you can take out or sit in and enjoy as part of our "warm hub". We support local food and drink producers wherever possible and stock crafts made by local people. We also host "Hair Above" run by a local hairdresser.
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At the Broadland and South Norfolk Business Awards 2022 we were winners of "Business in the Community" and at the South Norfolk Community Awards 2023 we received the "Business in the Community" award".
We are a Community Interest Company (CIC) that was set up in September 2016 by residents from Thurlton, Norton Subcourse and neighbouring villages to takeover a failing convenience store and so provide a much needed local shop and social hub. We initially rented the shop, but, as tenants, we did not have control over the future use of the premises or its upkeep, so in March 2018, we registered it as an Asset of Community Value with South Norfolk District Council and, with loans, sale of shares and donations, we were able to purchase the premises. The shop is run entirely by volunteers (over 30). As a non-profit organisation, no shareholders take any dividend income, and all profits are invested back into the business for the benefit of the community.
The premises had been neglected for many years and fallen into disrepair. Through the mechanisms described above we have raised sufficient funds to embark on a major refurbishment of the shop in February 2021 (watch video) and now have a shop that is environmentally and economically sustainable.
The ethos of the shop is summed up well by regular customer, Janet Street-Porter in an article in the Independent in which she said “Yes, it's exactly like The Archers - owned by the villagers! Now I know I can be at home in Norfolk. I have a hub that's not part of a chain, a quirky community store with a table for reading and a coffee, a post office, and well stocked shelves - from fuel to baby food, cleaning products to tins and dried goods. Rural shops are the absolute key to nurturing a community, a place to talk, to offer help and to feel part of your neighbourhood.”
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Press Coverage
• Community shop continues to thrive as volunteers bid to buy building (Beccles and Bungay Journal, 30/12/2016)
• Beast from the East (BBC Look East, 01/03/2018)
• Janet Street-Porter "... so here's how to help villages thrive..." (Independent, 02/08/2019) and
"It's exactly like The Archers" (Eastern Daily Press, 09/08/2019)
• COVID lockdown (BBC Look East, 25/06/2020)
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