Almondsbury community shop is essential part of village life now

A community-run village shop has been a real success since it welcomed its first customers six months ago.

Families in Almondsbury now regularly do their shopping in the volunteer-run store, which is getting about 900 customers every week.

It has also turned over some £65,000 since March.

Alun Evans, of the Almondsbury Community Services Association, which runs the enterprise, said: "We've done much better than hoped at this stage.

"We don't have a huge amount of space so it's quite remarkable what has been achieved.

"We are also getting feedback that it has become an essential part of the village, certainly for older people and those with mobility problems. It has become invaluable for them."

Those involved with the project bucked the trend when they opened the shop as many other businesses were facing difficulties as a result of the recession.

But they had already proved a need for the service through a series of trial shopping days held before they got their own premises.

Almondsbury last had a commercially run village shop about seven years ago and when it closed, residents were left with a one-and-a-half mile drive to a petrol station on the busy A38 if they needed household basics.

It resulted in the campaign to form a community-run enterprise, staffed by volunteers, and led to the idea of running test shops in the village hall during 2008.

That led to a more permanent base being sought and the parochial church council offered a small house in Church Road, initially for two years.

A team of nearly 50 volunteers serve customers, who are offered as much local produce as possible, from bread, eggs and meat to cheese, preserves and vegetables.

Newspapers and stationery are sold, with new lines being added all the time.

Mr Evans said: "We've got locally sourced ready-made meals and have just introduced our own branded biscuits.

"It has really brought the community together. It's quite a novelty for many children to walk to a local shop and they love it."

Fundraising for the project included shareholders paying a nominal fee, and attracting grants and loans.

The shop is a not-for-profit scheme and is open every weekday and on Saturdays up to 2.30pm.

Any profits are reinvested in the shop and the community.