Nicola Blackwood MP to visit Appleton and the Appleton Community Shop

13th January 2011: Appleton, Oxfordshire: Nicola Blackwood, the Member of Parliament for Oxford West and Abingdon, will be visiting Appleton on Saturday 22nd January 2011 at mid-day. The visit will take place in the recently refurbished Appleton Community Shop (ACS) where she will meet the village management group and hear about the challenges and success of the venture.

Jerry Uren, chair of the ACS, commented: “We welcome Nicola’s interest in the shop. When we opened in the year 2000, with no real knowledge of retailing and with a team of enthusiastic volunteers, we had no idea how successful it would be. At that time there were only a few other community shops we could look to for guidance; we are delighted to play our part in helping other community shop schemes in the county and have welcomed many visitors wanting to see how we manage the concern.

“Towards the end of last year the shop was significantly refurbished, and, although it seemed only minor on paper, the end result is excellent. It appears roomier and lighter than before. We certainly appreciated the fact we have such a great facility during the recent snowy weather when, for a while, we were virtually snowed in.”

Ms Blackwood will also meet members of the public who will, undoubtedly be doing their shopping that Saturday morning.

Nicola commented: “I shall look forward to engaging with Jerry and his team and learning how they have been at the centre of the Appleton community, and are such an excellent example of the Prime Minister’s concept of the “Big Society”. Appleton with Eaton is definitely on my radar and I am involved with the Northmoor Weir campaign and am keeping appraised of their campaign for faster Broadband. It is a community that is very active on many fronts.”

Notes to editors:

Appleton is a village to the West of Oxford and between Cumnor and Faringdon. It has a population of about 1,000

Appleton Community Shop (ACS): when the threat of closure was made known to the Parish council in 1999 ACS was formed and trading commenced in May 2000. Nearly eleven years later it is a successful and community-owned shop – recently refurbished from funds generated by the shop. Great help and encouragement has been given by the Oxfordshire Rural Communities Council (ORCC) over the years. The financial and community success of the shop is that there are over 90 volunteers performing several duties.

With over 2,000 line items, about a third of the products are sourced through the Mid-Counties Co-operative Society with another ten or so local suppliers providing such items as local vegetables, cheese, milk, bread etc. The Appleton Community Shop was formed when the previous owners had decided to retire and cease trading, and the decision was made by the community to attempt to run the business themselves with, in the main, volunteers.

The main principles set at the outset were: -

• That the shop should have a Post Office (now two mornings a week and run very efficiently by villager Julie Carter)
• The opening hours should reflect the needs of customers and be open before people left the village for work and be open when they returned in the evening. (Monday to Fridays 7:00 am to 7:00pm)
• Stock should be inclusive of products and at a price that those unable to travel regularly to the supermarkets could afford to purchase (nearly 2,000 line items)
• That any profits should be used for the benefit of the local community (recently £5,000 was distributed to a range of local groups).

For more information contact: Graham Rose Thistledown, Park Lane, Appleton, Oxfordshire OX13 5JT Tel: 01865 864026 Email: g.rose@dsl.pipex.com

And view the Parish website at www.appletonwitheaton.org.uk where there is more information about ACS and the parish!