The storybehind ourShop & Cafe

This shop is what it isbecause of the hardwork, determination

and support of literallyhundreds of people

from our community!

www.wiggintonshop.org.uk

Our journey started back in 2016, whenRebecca Fleckney moved to Wigginton andspotted that, while the village has athriving social scene, public house and twochurches, there was a gap in where peoplecould go to meet on their own terms. Asurvey of the village and the surroundingHilltop Villages revealed a strong appetitefor a village shop and café; a communityhub that would also serve as a shopwindow for local producers, built, ownedand managed by the community - ourshop is run mostly by volunteers! Joined bySimon Crichton and Deborah Simcock, thethree would become the original foundingmanagement committee, a plan began toemerge. A huge working party soon formed, thathelped to fulfil so many aspects needed todrive the project forward. Let’s be clear,this shop is what it is because of the hardwork, determination and support ofliterally hundreds of people – an architect,a planning expert, structural engineer,fundraisers, cake bakers, book keeper,website builder, volunteers to pound thestreets to gather support; HR, marketing,retail and volunteer experts; a lawyer,environmental consultant, interiordesigner, decorator, joiner, electrician andbuilder (who would go on to build theshop!) The list goes on and on…

2016 - Towards the end of the year, awonderful team of volunteers visitedaround 640 homes to canvas support byanswering a survey. We used the results tocreate a proposal for the shop that waspresented to the Parish Council at it'sDecember meeting - it received strongsupport! 2017 - We received a lot of support fromthe Plunkett Foundation, a charity thatadvises and supports community ownedbusinesses; as well as community shopsnear and far, including Wilstone, The Lee,North Marston and Hughenden Valley,who were invaluable in giving their insightsas well as inviting us to go and workvolunteer shifts to understand what’sinvolved in running a shop of this nature. Having eventually settled on this site tobuild the proposed shop, a series offundraising events paid for theprofessional services needed to draw upthe lease with the Parish Council who ownthe sports field; and the architecturaldrawings so we could submit the planningproposal, with support from TrevorStanden and Dacorum Borough Councillorat the time, Stan Mills. We also formed a Community BenefitsSociety, so our shop was official!

2018 - With a five strong ManagementCommittee now chaired by Debbie Meech– Caroline Burrage (grants) and Terri Baker(people) had also joined the committee bythis time – and an ever-supportive workingparty, we held a Public Exhibition andopened our share offer to raise the fundsneeded to build our shop. We were blownaway by the response as targets wereexceeded – 184 people from ourcommunity bought shares, raising £89,500which was match funded by Big SocietyCapital. We also secured grants totalling £36,750 –LEADER, who funded the building’sstructure, Big Lottery Fund, Dacorum,Shanly Homes, Turpin Trust and ChilternSociety who all contributed to kitting outthe kitchen and café. With planning permission granted, thecontract to build the shop was put out totender and awarded to local businessDatum Point Construction. The build started in September. Aroundthis time we appointed the shop’smanager, the wonderful Sally Clarke, andhaving recruited around 75 amazingvolunteers, we trained a core team of 40so we could open our doors for the firsttime at 8am Saturday 1st December 2018.