Village shop celebrates second birthday (From Redditch Advertiser)

Village shop celebrates second birthday

11:01am Thursday 3rd February 2011 in News

THE community in Feckenham is celebrating two successful years of running its community shop.

The Village Shop, which was opened in 2009 by then MP Jacqui Smith, is run by a team of 96 volunteers from the surrounding area.

John Calvert, a retired chairman of an NHS Trust, is the chairman of the shop.

He said: "We don't expect to compete with supermarkets, we're surrounded by them, but wherever possible we buy and supply locally produced products ranging from meat, eggs, milk produce. It provides a meeting point. Somewhere where people can go without getting the car out."

The shop has just launched phase two of it's development, opening a coffee shop on site, and after winning Village Shop of the Year last year in the Countryside Alliance Awards, the volunteers are hoping it will go from strength to strength.