In 2018 the owner of Felsham Village Store and Post Office  asked the community whether it would be interested in taking the business over as they wished to retire. A  community consultation exercise was carried out. The key findings were:
• 77% thought it important to have a village Store;
• 85% thought it important to have a Post Office;
• 65% said they would use a community run Store.

Following this show of support a steering group was then set up to conduct a feasibility study. The group concluded that the project was viable so a Management Committee was set up and a share issue launched to finance the takeover. The Management Committee took over the running of the Store from the 26th January 2019 with the “official” opening on 23 February 2019 by Jo Churchill MP.

With the help of our amazing volunteers and the support of the community the store has traded successfully since then, being a vital service during Covid and being awarded The Suffolk Community Building of the Year 2024. Nearly half our customers use the shop at least twice a week, and almost three quarters shop every week, with a catchment area that also includes neighbouring villages with no shop.

Ownership by the Community

This is structured through Felsham and Gedding Community Store Limited. This is a Community Benefit Society registered with the Financial Conduct Authority. The principal objective of a Community Benefit Society is that it will be owned by the community and any profit from the Store not required to be re-invested in the business will be put back into the community.  So far over 120 people have subscribed for over 1000 shares.

More details on this can be found here

The Future

The premises the shop occupies are on a short term lease, and not large enough to deal with the size of business it has become. We are looking to build a new shop adjacent to Felsham Village Hall, subject to raising the necessary funds.  You can find out more about these plans here