The Monks Eleigh community Shop is situated next to The Swan Inn and is a non-profit-making organisation staffed mainly by volunteers from the village. It sells a range of essential and useful products and has long opening hours to suit both people who travel outside of the village to work as well as those who live in the surrounding villages.
In its present form the shop was set up in 2003 when the previous one closed down. Conversion of the building was paid for by grants and local fundraising and the whole project was managed by a committee of local people. The shop employs a manager to do the day-to-day running but the counter is staffed by a team of about 40 volunteers who work in sessions of varying lengths throughout the week and at weekends.
The shop is still run as a collaboration between the shop manager and the management committee. For a relatively small shop, we are proud of the fact that the shop is able to sell a wide range of products, most of which are sourced where possible from local suppliers. We supply newspapers, bread and meat to order, and our friendly local staff are always pleased to help.
We also sell fresh fruit and vegetables, frozen food, snacks and sandwiches, drinks, groceries, greetings cards, stationery and sundries. There's something for the children too, with our range of ice creams, chocolates and confectionary.
We are always looking for volunteers to man the counter or shelf-fill for a couple of hours a week or whatever you can manage. What a great way of getting to meet other residents and contributing to your community. If you are interested in volunteering, please enquire at the shop or give the manager, Janet a call on 01449 744908.