Melmerby and Fellside Village Shop LTD.

Support from Enterprising Communities

Howard Long, the Development Worker from Enterprising Communities who became involved with the group, described the process of his involvement as follows: ‘I became involved early in the process when a friend who lived in the next village told me what was going on and suggested I might be able to help in my Enterprising Communities role.  I attended a meeting in the village hall where the option of establishing a community shop was first discussed.  I offered my help. Some villagers then took the plunge and formed a group to look into the options for a community-run shop. I attended their meetings from the start.’

The initial group of six villagers who took on the project of starting the new shop were highly motivated and well networked both at the local and the county level.  They comprised a retired member of the colonial administrative service, a director of City and Guilds, a retired doctor and professor, local business people, and a solicitor.  Importantly, the group members had time to commit to the project and they also possessed a wide range of skills and experience.  Initially forming a voluntary association with an appropriate constitution, the group made successful funding applications to Cumbria County Council’s Community Regeneration Fund and the North Pennines Leader + Programme to cover the consultancy fees of about £4000, in order to undertake a feasibility study.  They took an active role in the study, producing and circulating questionnaires, holding community meetings, and negotiating with the Post Office and the owners of both the old and potential new shop premises. 

The idea of establishing the shop as a social enterprise was initially just one of several options for the community.  As Clare Rankin, the secretary of the group from 2003 until recently, commented: ‘We didn’t propose a co-operative – at the time we just wanted something that would keep our shop open.’ At the same time, however, ‘there was the feeling that we wanted something community-owned’.

Asked for the reasons behind the group’s success, Howard notes the considerable experience and social capital that existed in the village, and also the fact that the village had a record of gaining community assets through its own efforts.  ‘Melmerby is a relatively confident community,’ he notes, ‘and a number of significant community projects were already underway at this time.  For instance, the village was in the process of finalising plans and obtaining funding for an ambitious new village hall [now built]. A group had taken over the environmental management of the extensive village green.  Several active village clubs exist.  Melmerby is also a village with several other facilities – quite rare in this particular area – for example, a pub and the well-known Village Bakery, as well as a caravan site, which are sources of local employment.  It was obvious that Melmerby had the potential to play an increasingly important role as a hub village in the area, especially as it benefits from passing tourist trade on the A686 (Hartside) road.  Tourist income and activity would help sustain services for local people.