Introduction
The village shop is a community-owned shop run by Jude and Sam, the managers, helped by an assistant manager and a team of volunteers.
The Village Shop at Beech Hill is a unique shopping experience set in a quiet village just off junction 11 of the M4 providing fresh local produce including milk, eggs, fruit & vegetables, meat and fish, as well as soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer, wine and magazines.
It is a community-owned shop located within a Grade 2-listed church designed by renowned Victorian architect William Butterfield with a wonderful array of stained glass windows.
The shop aims to provide quality fresh local produce at reasonable prices whilst maintaining the church’s integrity. It is designed specifically to fit in with the church and to be hidden away for services.
We also have Butterfield’s Tea Room within the church, which has the same opening hours as the shop. Tea, coffee, cakes, snacks, and sandwiches are available, as a takeaway or eat-in service. If you live in Beech Hill or the surrounding area, you will find the village shop a delightful place to buy all your food needs locally, as well as meet and chat with neighbours and perhaps enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. If you are passing through, take a minute to call in, enjoy a peaceful moment looking around the church, and browse the gifts and yummy produce on offer.
The shop is managed by Jude and her great team of volunteers. They will do everything they can to make you feel welcome and fulfil any special needs: anything from a gluten-free cream tea to a sack of carrots for your ponies. We cater for all ages, with a toy basket and wooden till to play shops with for the children whilst mum and dad browse or have a cup of tea.
We also cater for business lunches held in the nearby Memorial Hall and at local businesses. For example, a homemade sandwich, crisps, fruit, cake and a drink will cost only £6.50 per head. Give us a call and we will do our best to meet your needs because we are here to serve our community.
The shop could not run without its volunteers and we value all 20+ of them enormously. They range from young people from 14 years of age carrying out their Duke of Edinburgh voluntary work to retired villagers who come along for an hour or two once a week. We are always looking for volunteers so please contact the shop if you are interested.
The shop was opened in the beautiful Butterfield-designed Anglican church of St Mary the Virgin in February 2013 after two years of preparatory work*, fundraising and support from the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund and the Plunkett Foundation. Services continue to be held in the church so the shop is closed on Sundays and for weddings and funerals on other days.
Members of the local community are invited to purchase £25-shares which entitle them to attend the AGM and vote on any distribution of any surplus made by the shop to the community. The shop is run as a not-for-profit business, though some surplus is retained to sustain the shop’s viability. The shares are non-returnable and non-dividend.
The shop is managed overall by a management committee: Charlie Carter (chairman), Maryleigh Wilson (secretary), Trevor Cresswell (treasurer), Sam Moore, Jude Cresswell, Nicola Briginshaw, Louisa Bryan and Fleur Howles (marketing and web manager)..
*Read more about 'our story' here, and our month-by-month articles published in the local community magazine, Loddon Reach
Introduction
The village shop is a community-owned shop run by Jude and Sam, the managers, helped by an assistant manager and a team of volunteers.
The Village Shop at Beech Hill is a unique shopping experience set in a quiet village just off junction 11 of the M4 providing fresh local produce including milk, eggs, fruit & vegetables, meat and fish, as well as soft drinks, tea, coffee, beer, wine and magazines.
It is a community-owned shop located within a Grade 2-listed church designed by renowned Victorian architect William Butterfield with a wonderful array of stained glass windows.
The shop aims to provide quality fresh local produce at reasonable prices whilst maintaining the church’s integrity. It is designed specifically to fit in with the church and to be hidden away for services.
We also have Butterfield’s Tea Room within the church, which has the same opening hours as the shop. Tea, coffee, cakes, snacks, and sandwiches are available, as a takeaway or eat-in service. If you live in Beech Hill or the surrounding area, you will find the village shop a delightful place to buy all your food needs locally, as well as meet and chat with neighbours and perhaps enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. If you are passing through, take a minute to call in, enjoy a peaceful moment looking around the church, and browse the gifts and yummy produce on offer.
The shop is managed by Jude and her great team of volunteers. They will do everything they can to make you feel welcome and fulfil any special needs: anything from a gluten-free cream tea to a sack of carrots for your ponies. We cater for all ages, with a toy basket and wooden till to play shops with for the children whilst mum and dad browse or have a cup of tea.
We also cater for business lunches held in the nearby Memorial Hall and at local businesses. For example, a homemade sandwich, crisps, fruit, cake and a drink will cost only £6.50 per head. Give us a call and we will do our best to meet your needs because we are here to serve our community.
The shop could not run without its volunteers and we value all 20+ of them enormously. They range from young people from 14 years of age carrying out their Duke of Edinburgh voluntary work to retired villagers who come along for an hour or two once a week. We are always looking for volunteers so please contact the shop if you are interested.
The shop was opened in the beautiful Butterfield-designed Anglican church of St Mary the Virgin in February 2013 after two years of preparatory work*, fundraising and support from the National Lottery's Big Lottery Fund and the Plunkett Foundation. Services continue to be held in the church so the shop is closed on Sundays and for weddings and funerals on other days.
Members of the local community are invited to purchase £25-shares which entitle them to attend the AGM and vote on any distribution of any surplus made by the shop to the community. The shop is run as a not-for-profit business, though some surplus is retained to sustain the shop’s viability. The shares are non-returnable and non-dividend.
The shop is managed overall by a management committee: Charlie Carter (chairman), Maryleigh Wilson (secretary), Trevor Cresswell (treasurer), Sam Moore, Jude Cresswell, Nicola Briginshaw, Louisa Bryan and Fleur Howles (marketing and web manager)..
*Read more about 'our story' here, and our month-by-month articles published in the local community magazine, Loddon Reach