A COMMUNITY shop is set to open its doors to residents who have been without a village shop for almost a year.

Purleigh Community Shop is set to open on July 1, ending a nine-month stint where residents were deprived of a shop since last September.

When it closed last year, Purleigh Parish Council decided to survey everyone in the parish to see if there was support for the idea of launching a new one.

The feedback was positive, and at a public meeting it was agreed to appoint a Steering Committee to make this idea into a reality.

Committee chairman Tony Ashton and others worked to set up a company, refurbish the former shop premises and engage with the community to find out exactly what products and services they wished to have and would use.

The committee even received advice from other community shops in the area including Bradwell.

Mr Ashton said: “They have been extremely helpful in letting us learn from their experience and avoid pitfall and we have also had great input from The Plunkett Foundation, the body which advises community enterprises in the UK.

“We want to give the village its heart back and make the village Shop the hub of our community.

“We will be making the maximum use of small local suppliers and will be listening keenly to our customers to make sure we continue to give them what they need.”

To get the project off the ground, a share offer was launched and to date, around 90 parishioners have invested nearly £25,000 in the shop.

A list of more than 30 volunteers has been drawn up to do shift work behind the till to help keep costs down and support the managers and businesses have donated their time or goods to help with the refurbishment.

Mr Ashton added: “If we can, we want to expand and provide a wider range of services, but first of all, we need to encourage our community to use the shop as much as possible.

“We owe so much to our investors, our local business supporters, our sponsors and our volunteers who have demonstrated that the community spirit is alive and flourishing in Purleigh.”

Any profits not needed for reinvestment in the shop can only be used for community projects in the village.