About 90 villagers attended a meeting in the Village Hall on 18th October (see previous News Item) at which we presented the output from the RVS committee's work over the last couple of months, its findings and recommendations and a summary of the responses we had received from our survey sent out a week earlier.

The response from the villagers at the meeting was one of overwhelming enthusiasm, with an almost unanimous vote in favour of proceeding.

Some of the "headlines” from the presentation are as follows:-

The Shop. The village wants a mix of "standard" groceries plus local fresh produce, newspapers etc.  It wants a shop which also offers services (such as order deliveries, dry cleaning etc.). It should be welcoming and friendly and offer a meeting place for villagers (which may include a small number of tables set out for a cup of coffee). The full detail of the range and services would obviously be the subject of fuller discussion between the management committee and the eventual shop manager.

Business Plan. The business plan showed the venture needing support during the first twelve months but becoming self -financing during its second year of operation (provided of course an appropriate range of goods and services were offered).  One full time (or full time equivalent) paid manager (s) was included in the plan.

Funding. This comes from a village contributions (shares and donations), together with grants and loans which are potentially available. 

Benefit to the community as a whole. The share scheme would be for the benefit of the community as a whole and would give members the right to vote on important matters concerning the shop.  Any surpluses made by the shop would be used for community related projects..

Survey Results. The survey produced almost 100 responses raising commitments of almost £15,000, together with many offers of professional and practical help.  Over 100 hours per week of shop assistance was offered.  This would mean that all hours should be covered by at least one person and hopefully busy periods by two, in addition to the manager.

Freehold premises. A village resident who wished to remain anonymous has offered to acquire the freehold of the premises (terms have been agreed with the owner since the meeting) and lease them back to the village rent free for the first 3 years (i.e. .while the shop gets on its feet). 

Further cash needs. The commitment to acquire the premises, together with the grants and loans available means that the new target for the village to raise is £20,000. The survey forms have already shown pledges of £15,000, which is a fantastic achievement in such a short space of time. This means that if the community can raise a further £5,000, we should be able to get the shop up and running. There are many residents who were waiting to see whether we could get to this stage before pledging – so now would be the time to do this !! Further green forms are available at the post office or simply ‘phone or email, Graham Steinsberg, the chairman of the Radley Village Shop Committee (details below).

The committee would particularly like to thank all those who have offered their time and money so generously to this point and for such an enthusiastic turn out at the meeting.  We shall be communicating in the near future with all those who responded. 

If any members of the community who were unable to attend the meeting would like further information please contact the chairman of the Radley Village Shop Committee, Graham Steinsberg directly - either by 'phone (Ab.559337) or by email grahamst@btconnect.com .

Finally, we are now looking to set up a “management committee” whose jobs are to oversee further fund raising activities (to achieve the final £5,000), the shop refit, the appointment of a manager and then the eventual shop opening and running. We have already had offers from several villagers wanting to be on the committee. However if you feel that you have some particular skills which could benefit this community project and would like to be considered for the committee we would love to hear from you .