The nitty gritty.

CAPCA have already granted the Wilburton Community Shop project an initial £7,500. This money has been put to good use and has so far enabled us to draft a Lease Agreement with the new owners of the Wilburton Flame, to engage professionals to write and shortly submit a formal planning application to the District Council and to engage a Plunkett UK mentor to help us navigate the pitfalls of seeing a scheme such as this to its conclusion and ultimate delivery.

In order to release the remaining £42,500 grant, we will need to generate a community fund of up to £25,000. The full CAPCA grant will allow us to buy and install a suitable building in the pub car park, to fit it out with shelving, fridges and freezers, install CCTV and to connect to the necessary services like electric and internet.

Once the shop is up & running, we have planned a Share Offer Scheme to allow residents to invest in the business for the long term. However, and to get us up & running we are asking for donations. Any money given to the Hub will be more than just an expression of goodwill though. All funds received will be used to keep the shop operating and  with a considerable amount of cost initially being used to train our staff and volunteers as well as filling the shelves with stock, all ready for the first day of opening (both of which, the grant expressly does not cover).

With this in mind, we are asking everyone, be they individuals or commercial enterprises, be they based in Wilburton or further afield, to donate to the Community Shop fund. Contributions can be made in a number of ways - through our GoFundMe page, by Bank Transfer or even by cash. We have been asked already “how much should I donate?” and it is very difficult to know precisely the support that we will garner during this donation stage. We are asking for a minimum of £10 and a maximum of £10,000.