Village shop opens thanks to community volunteers

Volunteers at the Elmsett and Aldham Community Shop have welcomed their first customer into the store

A community shop staffed by volunteers has opened after residents lost their only retail outlet last year.

The closure of Elmsett Village Store, near Ipswich, in March, prompted a campaign to set up a new shop based in a converted storeroom at the village hall and run by a community benefit society.

Supporters raised £25,000 towards the project and the shop opened to customers this week.

"Local support has been amazing, attendance at the fundraisers has been remarkable and we had more than 100 customers visiting our little shop on its first day of trading," a spokesperson for Elmsett and Aldham Community Shop Limited said.

"Given the demise of so many commercially-run village stores, it's good when there's an alternative.

"Elmsett was really negatively affected by the closure of our shop, so the need and support for our own store seemed like a no-brainer.

"Over the last 10 months we have held fundraising events such as bingo and quizzes in the village pub, a raffle at Christmas, a shares issue and had donations from local businesses and residents."

The Elmsett and Aldham Community Shop sells food and household items and volunteers say it is attracting a lot of customers

Organisers have thanked Elmsett Parish Council and the Village Hall Committee for their support.

The shop is managed by Amy Hill, a part-time employed manager, but the rest of the staff are volunteers.

The plans for the new store were granted approval by Babergh District Council in September.