Shop raises £4,000 in two weeks in shares scheme

The shop was converted from a limited company, without shareholders, to a community benefit society in 2024

A volunteer-led community store has raised £4,000 in two weeks after launching a shareholder scheme to secure its future.

Lympsham Village Shop in Somerset opened in 1998, following a fundraising scheme in the area, and is staffed by volunteers.

People who buy into the shareholder scheme can receive the shop's annual accounts, go to shareholders meetings and make decisions on the store's next steps.

Management committee chair David Smith said he hopes the scheme will help make the shop the "centre of the community".

As reported in BurnhamOnSea.com, the shop was converted from a limited company, without shareholders, to a community benefit society in 2024 and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority.

Profits, over and above running costs and reserves, are invested back into the community to support local projects.

Lympsham Village Shop in Somerset first opened in 1998

Mr Smith said: "Having a village shop is a real asset. It gives a sense of feeling to the village.

"We want to make the shop the centre of the community."

Mr Smith added the shop allows locals who are unable to travel to get groceries and daily staples.

"The shop sells groceries, birthday cards and gifts, second-hand books, jigsaws, bread and fresh fruit - the sort of things that a small community needs to have available to it," he said.

Shares in the scheme can be bought in the village shop at £1 per share, with 25 shares being the minimum purchase. They can also be bought via email.

Everyone who purchases shares then become a member of the community benefit society.