An Isle of Wight volunteer run shop serves a seaside village with local and makes sure everyone gets a taste of the Island.
Seaview Village Community Shop, on the village's High Street, has been open for nearly a decade, fulfilling the need for a local store.
The shop is run by a not-for-profit community benefit society, with shareholders and regular members’ meetings.
A core team of 35 volunteers work in the shop and handle everything from accounts and marketing to day-to-day running.
Island produce takes centre stage, alongside everyday basics, so villagers do not have to go far for a few items.
A map in the window highlights the local products stocked.
Volunteer Sally Potter said the shop offers an alternative to supermarkets, but many people “just don't realise what the shop sells” and “automatically go to Tesco”.
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The shop has gone from strength to strength, offering customers credit on shop cards and expanding its floor space after the Covid pandemic.
Volunteers say the shop recalls Seaview’s busier commercial past, when the village had several shops.
The shop is now a vital meeting point for the community.
Sally said: "It's a good place for people to come who perhaps live on their own. It might be the only person that they speak to that day.
"And for some volunteers, who are on their own, it's nice for them to do something too."
Loyal customer Linda Bush, who lives just up the street, has her shopping delivered straight into her fridge.
Linda said: "It's brilliant. I don't go shopping anymore, I just phone up - and they put it in the fridge!
"It would cost a lot of money to get a taxi to Tesco - it's a godsend for me to be honest."
The Garlic Farm, one of the shop’s main suppliers, said it was “delighted” to have supplied the “wonderful” shop since it opened.
Dan Watson of Wight Knuckle Brewery said: "Seaview Community Shop has been a constant and loyal supporter of Wight Knuckle since we started.
"We're very proud to sit on their shelves and be amongst a vast range of Island produce, curated by people who clearly care deeply about this and actually back it up. They're a credit to us all".
Island Foods called the shop the 'heart of the village' and said it was proud to supply the shop.
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