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October 2020: Warm, no matter what
Hampstead Norreys Community Shop is collecting on behalf of West Berks Community Baby Bank who need the items shown here in excellent condition please - for babies or children. If you have any good quality pre-loved items, bring them to the shop this week as the items will be taken to the bank on Saturday morning, 31st October. They would also like mattress protectors, and new (must be new) duvets and pillows, sheets and covers. Please leave items on the porch outside the shop. Thank you! |
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October 2020: No child hungry
Our shop is joining the many different businesses offering free school meals during the holidays. So, if you’re a parent or carer with children who receive free school meals, or if your family would benefit from support, please just pop a note in an envelope addressed to the shop manager saying how many children are in need, and we will arrange free packed lunches for them during half term. No questions asked. It will all be done discretely, no-one but you and the shop manager will know, so please let us know if your children would benefit from this. And if you know of anyone you think may benefit, please let them know. If the government is still not helping during the Christmas holidays, we will help then too. And we are looking to set up a way of helping families in need with Christmas presents for their children. The shop is also setting up a collection point for West Berkshire Food Bank during December. No child should go hungry, no child should be cold, and no child should be without presents. |
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5 September 2020, 10am to 1pm, at the front of the shop
We are very pleased to welcome the Pantry Refill Company - a family-based eco-friendly zero waste company who handcraft produce bags for your home and shopping, as well as refill your pantry store cupboard with dried food buying only what you need for you and your families. UPDATE: Click the link to see more information about the amazing produce and goods from Eloise. Thanks to all who supported this venture, and we hope to repeat in the near future. |
GREENFEST ONLINE AND OUR PHOTO COMPETITION
We were sad that GreenFest 2020 was cancelled, but, unbeaten, we put together a line up delivered by local eco businesses, groups and individuals, that will introduce you to new ideas and we hope, inspire your next green steps.
We're also delighted that Matthew Shribman - Scientist, Environmentalist and Orator - has agreed to deliver a Facebook Live key note talk for us on what has arguably become the environmentalist term of 2020 - A Green Recovery.
The full programme is below and most of the videos are still available to watch. You can find the web links on http://www.ourgreenfest.co.uk/ Enjoy!
We were sad that GreenFest 2020 was cancelled, but, unbeaten, we put together a line up delivered by local eco businesses, groups and individuals, that will introduce you to new ideas and we hope, inspire your next green steps.
We're also delighted that Matthew Shribman - Scientist, Environmentalist and Orator - has agreed to deliver a Facebook Live key note talk for us on what has arguably become the environmentalist term of 2020 - A Green Recovery.
The full programme is below and most of the videos are still available to watch. You can find the web links on http://www.ourgreenfest.co.uk/ Enjoy!
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But we didn't forget our younger audience. GreenFest ran a nature photography competition this year for children up to and including 16 years of age, where we asked children to head out into the great outdoors armed with a camera and snap what interests, engages and inspires you / your little ones.
Our top prize is a 12 month subscription to National Geographic Kids magazine plus we have 10 wildflower seedpacks to giveaway. We can’t wait to see your entries. For more details about how to enter, click here. |
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June 2020
Will your loofa be bigger than my loofa? We are pleased to announce our very own 'grow your own loofa' competition. Take your free loofa plant home and nurture it - then bring your fruit to the shop in the autumn (date to be confirmed) to be judged. Spare loofa fruit will be used in workshops later in the year. 
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Please also see information about LOCKDOWN WOOD on the community projects page showing how you can help our environment by planting unwanted tree seedlings from your garden. |
The Broadsheet for June 2020
This month’s Broadsheet is being delivered to subscribers’ homes. We have a number of low risk volunteers who are happy to do this for the community. They will deliver as part of their daily exercise, and following official guidelines. If in doubt about letterboxes they will just leave The Broadsheet on the doorstep.
This edition is a bumper issue: not only contacts and ideas for isolation and support for local businesses, but puzzles, quizzes, cartoons and interesting articles for everyone.
Thanks to the many people throughout our communities who contributed, and also to those delivering. As usual, copies are available to purchase at just 40p at the community shop.
The April edition is still available april_broadsheet_-_smaller_file.pdf here for you to download and read.
This month’s Broadsheet is being delivered to subscribers’ homes. We have a number of low risk volunteers who are happy to do this for the community. They will deliver as part of their daily exercise, and following official guidelines. If in doubt about letterboxes they will just leave The Broadsheet on the doorstep.
This edition is a bumper issue: not only contacts and ideas for isolation and support for local businesses, but puzzles, quizzes, cartoons and interesting articles for everyone.
Thanks to the many people throughout our communities who contributed, and also to those delivering. As usual, copies are available to purchase at just 40p at the community shop.
The April edition is still available april_broadsheet_-_smaller_file.pdf here for you to download and read.
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March 2020 On March 26th, the shop had its ninth birthday! We have achieved some wonderful things in that time and we had hoped to share a celebration with you, but for now please just wish us well and we hope to have a BIG celebration next year. |
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SORRY, NOW CANCELLED BUT WE WILL RUN IT AGAIN AT A LATER DATE
March 2020 An original present for Mothers’ Day — make her some soap Mothers’ Day is on Sunday 22 March, so on Saturday 21st March we are running a soap-making workshop in the café. For just £2 take home two beautiful and original soaps. Children and adults welcome. We are running four sessions starting promptly at 3pm, 3:30pm, 4pm or 4:30pm. Take your pick! |
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February 2020
Ani and Lesley representing the shop at the national finals of the Rural Business Awards in Manchester, introduced by Paul Scully, MP, and hosted by Jules Hudson of Countrysidefile. The competition was fierce and, sadly, we didn't win our category (best rural social enterprise, charity or community project). We are very proud that we won for the whole of the south-east of England and came third nationally. Feedback from the judges: "I love this submission. The community has really thought about what the local needs are and done their best to facilitate solutions. But this isn't just about shopping and transactions - it's about inclusivity and opportunity. I particularly like the fact that they've made respect a priority and they've been able to capitalise on their success. Excellent". Congratulations to the worthy winners - the Pheasant community pub at Neenton in the Midlands. |
February 2020
Calling all village organisations/activities
The aims of the shop are to:
* provide a local resource for shareholders/villagers to buy goods and services, as well as provide a valuable social and focal point for villagers/customers;
* support local producers and growers by stocking and showcasing their products;
* generate sufficient income to meet its fixed and running costs, build reserves and any surplus profit made is for the benefit of the community.
The shop has not had to pay out as much as anticipated for equipment and maintenance recently, so we may be in a position to donate any surplus profit to organisations/activities based in Hampstead Norreys later this year. The management committee welcomes suggestions—please get in touch via email (hncshop@yahoo.co.uk) or through a suggestion box in the shop. Thank you!
Calling all village organisations/activities
The aims of the shop are to:
* provide a local resource for shareholders/villagers to buy goods and services, as well as provide a valuable social and focal point for villagers/customers;
* support local producers and growers by stocking and showcasing their products;
* generate sufficient income to meet its fixed and running costs, build reserves and any surplus profit made is for the benefit of the community.
The shop has not had to pay out as much as anticipated for equipment and maintenance recently, so we may be in a position to donate any surplus profit to organisations/activities based in Hampstead Norreys later this year. The management committee welcomes suggestions—please get in touch via email (hncshop@yahoo.co.uk) or through a suggestion box in the shop. Thank you!
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January 2020 Huge congratulations to Jana who collects and sorts the waste plastic from our shop (and from many other places). She is the winner of the West Berkshire community champion award scheme, and has been named volunteer of the year. We are so grateful to you Jana - the award is very, very well deserved. |
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January 2020
Calling all stallholders . . . If you would like a stall at our summer market, please email hncshop@yahoo.co.uk Information about previous markets can be found on the community events page. We are also taking bookings for stalls at GreenFest 2020 - scroll down for details. |
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January 2020 The only plastic recycling accepted in our area of West Berkshire is plastic bottles, so many of us are trying to find a way to stop plastic from going to landfill. We are pleased to expand our plastic recycling collections on behalf of the community - we already accept biscuit and cake wrappers, crisp packets and Pringles crisp tubes - but now we can also accept plastic sweet wrappers. Use the correct green bin outside the shop, but please note what we can and can't accept. The lovely Jana Little, a volunteer, sends this plastic waste to Terracycle. If we include incorrect plastic they will reject it, so please help by only including the plastic types listed. Thank you! |
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January 2020 Calling all stallholders and small businesses: if you are interested in showing your eco-friendly wares at GreenFest 2020 on 5 September, please email hncshop@yahoo.co.uk with brief details of what you can offer. As it is a community event, stalls are only £15. Scroll down for a summary of GreenFest in 2019 with pictures. It was such a great day! And for more information, see www.ourgreenfest.co.uk |
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December 2019
We're thrilled to announce that we are a beneficiary of the Rural business Awards Christmas campaign! Seven charities, social enterprises or community organisations from across the UK have been chosen 'who work hard all-year-round to make rural Britain a better place to live and work'. More information can be found through this link: |
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October 2019
On Friday 18 October, Vonnie and Lesley went to Canterbury for the regional finals of the Best Rural Business Awards, 2019. Much to our delight, we won the category Best Rural Social Enterprise, Charity or Community Project, for the south-east region. The national final is in February 2020, in Manchester, where we will go head-to-head with other regional finalists: a pub, another community shop, an organisation providing community transport and two organisations supporting vulnerable children. How these different enterprises can be compared is unknown but we are immensely proud to have got this far. |
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October 2019 Breaking news - we are hoping to set up a community shop orchard. The scheme will be based on a plan and design produced by Andy Howard of Heritage Fruit Company - his talk at our GreenFest event inspired us! http://www.heritageappletrees.com We aim to plant a seasonal range of new fruit trees, to include heritage varieties of apple, pear, cherry, plum, gages and damson, with supporting hedgerows to help the natural pollination process. |
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A range of early, mid and late season fruit trees will be planted to give a spread of crop across a large part of the year. The fruits that are picked will be used in the shop and café. The fruit can be sold or donations sought for surplus. Varieties of apples and pears will be made for juice, or for jam-making or cooking generally in the café kitchen, and we are investigating options for storing and drying the fruit.
The project will be overseen by the shop committee, with a volunteer sub-committee appointed to work with people from the community to run the project. We would like to organise open days during the year to engage the wider community, for example: a fruit-picking day, juicing day with picnic, and educational visits for school children, helping us all (young and old) to live more sustainably in our environment.
If you are able to support this enterprise you can do so through the Good Exchange who will match-fund donations. Thank you!
https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/17432/the-hampstead-norreys-community-shop/creation-of-an-orchard-for-hampstead-norreys-community-shop-cafe
The project will be overseen by the shop committee, with a volunteer sub-committee appointed to work with people from the community to run the project. We would like to organise open days during the year to engage the wider community, for example: a fruit-picking day, juicing day with picnic, and educational visits for school children, helping us all (young and old) to live more sustainably in our environment.
If you are able to support this enterprise you can do so through the Good Exchange who will match-fund donations. Thank you!
https://app.thegoodexchange.com/project/17432/the-hampstead-norreys-community-shop/creation-of-an-orchard-for-hampstead-norreys-community-shop-cafe
September 2019
On Saturday 7th September, after only four months of planning, Hampstead Norreys was host to an amazing free event held in multi-locations across the village.
On Saturday 7th September, after only four months of planning, Hampstead Norreys was host to an amazing free event held in multi-locations across the village.
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About 2500 people came for the day to find out how to live more sustainably. We had eminent speakers such as Lawrence Woodward OBE and Professor Sir Brian Hoskins; we had a panel discussion including our MP Richard Benyon; we had speakers helping us to eat locally, seasonally and sustainably; we had advice on building a sustainable wardrobe, and we even had a 10 year old talking about climate change. So many speakers offered their services that we needed two venues!
We had workshops (e.g. building bird boxes, planting fruit and veg) and there were even circus workshops and performances with a sustainability theme. We had an electrical repair café and a free bike check for cyclists (who got a free drink and cookie to reward their green transportation). We had all sorts of specialists giving us advice on such things as electric bikes, solar panels, ground and water source heat pumps and environmentally-conscious building methods. The school playground was open so we could unveil 'Sammy' the eco-bench (for more information see 'activities') and we had a 'pledge tree' where people of all ages committed to change. The shop courtyard was full of stalls from local small businesses showcasing green products and services. We provided over 25 free activities for children and/or adults, thanks to generous sponsorship from NFU. The activities included making your own body scrub and eco-glitter, no sellotape bags, CD owls, button necklaces . . . there was so much to do that people who thought they were coming for an hour or two mostly stayed all day. One of the many highlights of GreenFest was the artwork display from 14 different schools. The only brief we gave was to focus on 'our planet'. The resulting creativity and originality was awe-inspiring and a real credit to the children who took part (and of course their teachers). Just look at this magnificent papier-mache giraffe with used scrubbing brushes for its mane and empty tins for its feet! It was a fantastic day, bringing together over 14 different villages and towns. We are proud that our community shop played such a pivotal role (three of the four main organisers were from the shop's sustainability group) - it was hard work but it was definitely worth it! Huge thanks to the many, many people who helped make this event so very special. |
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So many people asked us to run it again next year that we agreed.
Hope to see you there in 2020! |
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June 2019
Having won the regional final for the south-east of England in the Countryside Alliance Rural Oscars, Avril, Barbara and Lesley went to the House of Lords for the national final - here we are with our MP Richard Benyon shortly before the judging. We won! To be named best rural shop in Britain is an amazing honour. The resultant TV, radio and newspaper publicity was incredible but we couldn't have achieved this without our amazing staff and volunteers so thanks to them all! |
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