The Rural
Shops Alliance Sounding Board – is a national
network of contacts for consultation over relevant issues. Why not
make your views heard and support the future of the Village shop by
volunteering to represent Somerset’s Village Retailers on the Sounding
Board? For further details contact the Community Council for Somerset
on
info@somersetrcc.org.uk
Support
for Community/Social Enterprises
Community
ownership is often the only viable option for villages wishing to
retain or introduce a local shop. ViRSA supports rural
communities wanting to set up and run a community owned shop by
providing practical assistance through a network of community retail
advisers, a national office and various publications.
ViRSA
is a national charity dedicated to supporting villages wishing to
provide this service and also has the expertise for carrying out
research and development projects on behalf of the government and
other organisations. For further information, contact the
Community Council on
info@somersetrcc.org.uk or visit
www.virsa.org.uk
Rural
Post Offices
All
over the county, village communities are rallying to support their
local services. Community groups are being established to take
over the management of village post offices and shops and to run them
as community enterprises, ploughing any profit back into the facility
and ensuring continuing access to such services, with the potential
for improvement and expansion.
To
make this process easier, the Post Office has developed a part-time
contract, called a Community Office Contract, which means a group can
negotiate more flexible hours, tailored to suit levels of business and
demand in village communities. The contract also takes into
account the difficulty of finding appropriate accommodation within a
small village, and allows for the services to be provided from a
variety of premises, including private houses, garages, pubs, farm
outbuilding and village halls. The contract will specify what
services are to be provided and for how many hours per week.
Some
of these enterprises are wholly voluntary, with the duties shared
amongst a pool of volunteers. In this situation one volunteer
needs to sign the contract with the Post Office, in other words out
themselves forward as the responsible party, and tasks can then be
delegated amongst the whole group. If this individual no longer
wishes to be involved, they give notice of three months to the Post
Office, at which point another member of the group can take on the
role. Where there will be a paid sub-pot master/mistress,
however part-time, that person undertakes the contract with the Post
Office.
How
about using the Village Hall?
One
of the options is to operate the post office out of your village hall.
There are a lot of important factors for the village hall committee to
consider in this scenario, including implications for the charitable
status of the hall. ACRE has produced an extremely helpful
information sheet on this subject - for a copy contact us on 01823
331222.
Other
issues to bear in mind are those of security, insurance and the needs
of other groups using the hall. For instance, if a playgroup is
operating at the same time as the post office facility is open, the
fact that the building is open to members of the public could present
safety and security issues for the playgroup. On a practical
level, the Post Office will advise on security matters and equipment,
all of which can be provided through the grant funding. It is
also worth noting that a village hall management committee cannot have
a contract with the Post Office, although a committee member could
take out a contract in their own right.
Availability
of suitable space is likely to be an issue for most groups thinking
about such a project. To this end, the Post Office has developed
a self-contained counter, without screens but with security systems
integral to it, which is much more compact than the conventional post
office counter and would fit comfortably into a relatively small
space.
Some
halls that have already gone through this process are: Chilthorne
Domer, West Camel, Compton Dundon and Odcombe.
Don't
forget that CCS is here to help you with any such project to give
guidance and support, as well as very often being able to put you in
touch with someone who has already been through it! If your
community's shop or post office is under threat, please do contact us
and we'll do all we can to help.
For
all kinds of information about the Post Office visit
www.postoffice.co.uk
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