News Archive 2010
Community Shops Awarded for Best Practice
Posted: December 2010
The prestigious SURF Awards for Best Practice in Community Regeneration were announced on the evening of Thursday 2nd December at a celebratory presentation event in Glasgow and we were delighted to see significant success for community owned shops. Uig Community Shop in Lewis came first in the 'place' category, Hillswick Community Shop in Shetland was highly commended in the 'people' category and Eday Partnership which includes Eday Shop also won the 'partnership' category - very well done to them.
Further information about the SURF awards and those involved
Download 2010 SURF Awards Report (2.1MB PDF)
Celebrations at Hillswick Shop
Posted: December 2010
Similar to the situation in a growing number of rural areas the shop at Hillswick in Shetland was struggling and finally had to close its doors in February 2009. However, the huge effort and determination of the local community meant it wasn't the end of the line for the shop and it celebrated its first year of business under community ownership on 26 November. Further recognition came the following week when the community was highly commended in the 'people' category of the SURF awards for best practice in community regeneration.
Download Hillswick case study (44kB Word file)
Rural Retailer - Autumn 2010
Posted: December 2010
Rural Retailer is a quarterly publication published by the Rural Shops Alliance. It is a useful resource, covering a range of topics including success stories, information on regulations, guidance on specific aspects of running a shop and up to date retail news.
Download Rural Retailer - Autumn 2010 (2MB PDF)
Fact-finding in the Faroes
Posted: October 2010
The Retailing in Rural Regions (RRR) project is progressing well and following the survey work carried out last year, the development of a training and development programme to help rural shops is now underway. In the second study visit for this year Catriona from Eriskay Community Co-op joined Tor and Bill from CRN in the Faroe Isles.
Download Report on the Faroes visit (311kB PDF)
Financial Management for Community Shops training manual
Posted: August 2010
This is a new publication produced by the Making Local Food Work programme in England. It forms part of their Social Business Toolbox.
Download Financial Management for Community Shops (424kB PDF)
New Shop and Cafe at Kirkmichael
Posted: August 2010
The local shop in the South Ayrshire Village of Kirkmichael was due to close in March. Rather than lose it, the local people got together and within five weeks managed to get enough support and finance together to renovate the shop, buy new equipment, get it stocked and start running it with a rota of volunteers. This was followed by the opening of the café in June and a successful bid to LEADER and the Village Core Programme which will allow the group to employ two part-time managers to run and grow the business.
You can find out more at: www.kirkmichael.org.uk
Wind and Washing at Uig
Posted: August 2010
In 2008 Uig Community Shop in Lewis secured funding to build a large extension to make its shop bigger and add on some new services. Earlier this year the final two parts of the improvement package were put in place - the laundry which houses a token operated commercial size washer and dryer and two 5kw wind turbines to power the shop and generate future income.
If you are interested in renewable energy you can find out more from your local Development Officer at Community Energy Scotland: www.communityenergyscotland.org.uk
Rural Retailer - Summer 2010
Posted: August 2010
Rural Retailer is a quarterly publication published by the Rural Shops Alliance. It is a useful resource, covering a range of topics including success stories, information on regulations, guidance on specific aspects of running a shop and up to date retail news.
Download Rural Retailer - Summer 2010 (2.1MB PDF)
Community Food & Health Scotland 'Healthy Goals'
Posted: August 2010
Community Food & Health Scotland's annual networking conference, Healthy Goals, will take place on 21st October at the Park Hotel in Kilmarnock. Visit their website at www.communityfoodandhealth.org.uk or use the download links below.
Download information and workshop descriptions (1605kB PDF)
Download booking form (183kB PDF)
Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight
Posted: August 2010
4 to 19 September is Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight and many events will take place across the country to celebrate and promote Scottish produce.
2010 is also the Year of Food and Drink following on from the success of the Year of Homecoming in 2009. If you would like to get involved and promote the Scottish produce that you sell, you can download a toolkit, suggestions, point of sale material, stickers and posters.
Visit the Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight website
Download the Scottish Food and Drink Fortnight toolkit
Annual Report 2009
Posted: May 2010
You can find out what's been happening over the last year in our 2009 Annual Report.
Download Community Retailing Network Annual Report 2009 (748kB PDF)
2010 Small Grant Scheme Open
Posted: May 2010
Community Food and Health Scotland have opened their annual small grant scheme which offers £500 to £4,000 to develop healthy eating activities. Last year Straiton Village Community Co-operative in South Ayrshire was able to buy a new chiller cabinet to help improve its sales of fresh fruit and vegetables. The Scheme is open until Friday 9 July.
Find out more at: www.communityfoodandhealth.org.uk/funding/smallgrantsopen.php
DTA Scotland Annual Conference: 13-14 June
Posted: May 2010
This is the main opportunity in the year for new and existing development trusts to get together at a national level, share information and expertise and generally inspire each other. The conference will take place on 13-14 June at the MacDonald Highland Resort in Aviemore and the Community Retailing Network will have a stand in the Marketplace.
See: www.dtascot.org.uk/newsandevents.cfm#seminars
The Store is the Core - Final Report
Posted: May 2010
Part of Carnegie's Rural Action Research Programme, The Store is the Core project aimed to investigate the diversification of community-owned shops into multi-service outlets and share the lessons learned. The project ran for 3 years, ending in November 2009.
Download the final report from the CarnegieUK Trust website.
20:Twenty Leadership Residential
Posted: April 2010
The 20:Twenty is a unique opportunity for people working in retailing social enterprises to meet with their peers from across the Highlands and islands, and participate in a leadership and enterprise learning experience. The programme is delivered at the four-star Newton Hotel, Nairn, one of the Highland's top conference venues. The programme is interactive, participatory and fun! You will learn not only from our expert tutors who between them have a vast amount of expertise in leadership, management, sales, promotion and marketing, but also from other learners who will be experiencing the same issues as yourself.
The programme is free of charge (including accommodation and meals), and we can help towards travel costs. For further details and application forms, please call Kate on 01463 238 088 or email kate@theacademy-ssea.org
New Business Assistance from HISEZ
Posted: April 2010
Highlands & Islands Social Enterprise Zone has taken on two Business Assistants to offer practical help for social enterprises. If you need help with a business plan, marketing strategy, funding application or even administrative tasks or systems please contact Amy or Kirsty at HISEZ: email amy.matheson@hisez.co.uk or kirsty.maccallum@hisez.co.uk or call on 01463 715 533.
Members' Study Visit to Norway
Posted: April 2010
Two members of the Community Retailing Network recently had the chance to take part in a study visit to Norway as part of the Retail in Rural Regions project. Elaine from Uig Community Co-op in Lewis and Sheila from Eid Community Co-op in Shetland joined representatives from 5 other countries on the visit where they learned how rural shops operate in the region as well as the workings of the well established support programme Merkur which offers funding, advice, and training.
The report on their visit will be available here for download in the near future.
Rural Retailer - Spring 2010
Posted: April 2010
Rural Retailer is a quarterly publication published by the Rural Shops Alliance. It is a useful resource, covering a range of topics including success stories, information on regulations, guidance on specific aspects of running a shop and up to date retail news.
Download Rural Retailer - Spring 2010 (2.6MB PDF)
New Online Community Shops Network - connecting the community-owned shops sector across the UK
Posted: April 2010
Launched by the Plunkett Foundation which supports community shops across England and Wales, this new online network aims to provide a place for everybody involved in the sector to share ideas and best practice.
You can access the network at: www.plunkett.co.uk
Could you learn from visiting another community shop?
Posted: April 2010
If so or if you would be happy for other community shops to visit you, Local People Leading might be able to help. Through its Knowledge and Skills Exchange Fund which is funded by the Scottish Government, it aims to facilitate learning and the exchange of knowledge and ideas within the community sector. Grants of £1,000 are available for costs including visits to projects or community organisations, hosting a visit and accessing training. If you are interested in finding out more please contact us at 0845 217 8978 or info@communityretailing.co.uk