The Pitton Community Store Limited (PCSL) was registered as a Community Benefit Society with the Financial Conduct Authority in August 2022. Being a Community Benefit Society means that assets and and profits must be used for the benefit of the community. It provides a foundation for a community share scheme and attracting grant funds. The business planhas been completed. Sufficient funds have now been raised to build and equip the shop and cafe. Construction began on 5 January with a view to opening the new store and cafe in September 2026.
Tell us what you would like the shop to sell ……….
Early planning for the shop fit out is already underway. In order to assess storage, display and shelving requirements we need to get a better understanding of what produce local people would like to see in the shop, so please tell us your views via our online survey.
The survey is mainly tickboxes for generic foods and household items but there is room in each section for you to highlight other items or particular brands that you prefer, so please provide more detail where you can. For example, it will be most helpful for us to know that you would purchase coffee beans or that your favourite biscuits are Jammie Dodgers. It should take less than 5 minutes to complete.
The survey will be open for four weeks. We will then assess the results, feed them into the shop design and share the results with those who take part.
Thanks to huge support from local residents building work has just begun on a new community shop, post office and cafe in Pitton. The shop is being built as an extension to Pitton Village Hall and will provide a community hub at the heart of the village.
The work is being funded through the £207,000 raised from the residents of Pitton, Firsdown, Farley and East Grimstead via a community share scheme and a £97,000 grant awarded from Wiltshire Council’s UK Shared Prosperity Fund for Rural Hubs. The latter will pay for part of the build and will also cover equipment, fixtures and fittings for the shop and café.
Further grants have been awarded by the Landfill Communities Fund and the Bernard Sunley Foundation. Donations from Firsdown Parish Council and Pitton and Farley Parish Council have also been made.
The new shop has been designed by Salisbury architects Barclay Phillips, and the build contract was awarded to R.V. Dart, following a competitive tender process. JJ Wilson at 2B11 will design the interior of the shop and local volunteers have kindly offered to help install fixtures and fittings.
The shop is planned to open in September this year (when the current shop in Pitton closes) and it will be staffed by a combination of paid staff and volunteers from the local community.
John Glen, MP for Salisbury, has been a supporter of the community shop project since it began. He commented, “This project is a model of what can be achieved when the community pulls together. I hope it will thrive and provide inspiration for other local villages, which are exploring similar initiatives.
Exciting News!! – 1 December 2025
The community share scheme closed on 30 November and we are absolutely delighted to report that we reached £202,450 in share purchases. This means that with the grant of £97,000 from the Wiltshire Shared Prosperity Fund for Rural Hubs we have secured enough funding to cover the vast majority of the project. Given the overwhelming support from the community we are confident of securing small grants for the finishing touches – such as new signage for the shop and village hall, and crockery for the cafe.
The contract with the builder has been signed and the build will start on 5th January. In advance of the build, local volunteers have removed the tree on site. We are very grateful for this help which has saved money.
Pitton Village Hall Committee has also recognised the need for improved access at the rear of the hall. The committee will work with the community shop team to widen the rear steps, add a handrail and improve the lighting. Detailed guidance for hall users accessing the hall and parking during the build will be circulated in mid-December.
Over the past few weeks we have also had discussions with Broad Chalke Community Shop and Winchester Farm Shop. These have been very helpful in several areas including shop layout, operating processes and how they organise staff and volunteers.
In December we aim to issue paperwork to all our investors, update our plans and start a detailed design of the shop interior.
Alongside building the shop, the committee is working hard to prepare for the opening. This includes setting up policies, plans, and talking with the Post Office. If you can help with any of this, please reach out to Brian Cudby at briancudby8@gmail.com or Lorna Taylor at lornatayloruk@icloud.com.
Thank you to everyone who has already offered help with fit-out plans, hiring, site prep, and document reviews.
…… Again, thank you for your support! Have a wonderful Christmas!
Wiltshire Council Award a Grant from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund !
2 November 2025
We are delighted to announce that the Pitton Community Store has been awarded a grant of £97,000 from the Wiltshire Shared Prosperity Fund for Rural Hubs.
When we add this to your pledges of £210,000 this means we will have enough funds to to complete not just the build, but the full fit out of the shop. This includes fridges, freezers and shelving, IT equipment for the office, and tables, chairs and a good coffee machine for the cafe. Two other small grant applications are in progress to cover the last remaining £8,000 for stock and working capital.
The Wiltshire Council grant required that we demonstrate that the project had support from the community and could fund the majority of the project. Your pledges of £210,000 allowed us to evidence both of these things and we are immensely grateful for your support in making our new community shop a reality.
We will be launching the Community Share Scheme, to allow you to turn your pledges into share purchases, from the 10th to the 30th November. We have planned two public meetings in Pitton village hall on Saturday 8th November at 11 a.m. and Sunday 9th November at 4 p.m. where you will will have an opportunity to pick up a share prospectus and ask any questions about the share scheme or the shop plans. Providing we collect your pledges by the end of November the project is still on track to open the new shop in September next year.
Alongside this the committee are working hard to put everything else in place including policies and procedures, fit out plans and discussions with the Post Office. If you are able to help us on any of these, please contact Brian Cudby on briancudby8@gmail.com or Lorna Taylor on lornatayloruk@icloud.com.
Thankyou to those who have already offered help with fit out plans, recruitment, site preparation and reviewing documents.
Again – THANKYOU!
October 2025
Residents of Pitton, Farley, Firsdown and East Grimstead attended a public meeting on Saturday 13th Septemberin Pitton Village Hall to find out more about Pitton Community Store plans and our fund-raising.
Due to the amazing community spirit and generosity of the people of Pitton, Farley, Firsdown and East Grimstead we have now reached our target of £210,000 in pledges towards the community shop.
This means we can move forward with building the shop and we are already working on the next steps. These include:
Developing our prospectus and launching the share scheme to collect your pledges
More detailed discussions with our chosen builder regarding start dates
Applying for a Rural Hubs Grant to Wiltshire Council’s Prosperity Funds programme to part fund the first phase of construction and the purchase of equipment
Finding volunteers to help us with particular skills we need going forward – such as recruitment and cafe/retail design (please let us know if you can help)
Updating the web site, business case and project plan
Please do contact us if you have skills and experience in any of these areas and could donate some of your time. Thank you in advance.
Since our last update we have completed the detailed design work, a major milestone enabling development of the tender for the build project. This has involved agreeing the work in detail, covering everything from materials to utilities and shop layout. Cliff Whitley has done an excellent job leading on this, working alongside our architects Barclay Phillips. Five local builders have expressed interest in responding to the tender, and their quotes will allow us to refine our business plan and understand the timeframe, as well as fully assess the level of disruption to users of the village hall. A sub-group of Pitton Village Hall management committee have helped us work through the tender implications for hall users, and their support and positive focus to identify solutions has been invaluable. The tenders will be returned by 3rd April.
Huge steps forward have also been taken in terms of the legal aspects of the project. We now have a draft lease for the land next to the village hall and we expect this to be signed by 28th March.
Capital funding for the build continues to be a challenge. In our last update we were waiting to hear if the Community Ownership Fund would go ahead, as we had a bid ready to go and very positive feedback on our chance of success. Unfortunately, the fund was withdrawn, which was a huge disappointment and has slowed us down on the funding front.
We continue to pursue other smaller grants and have been awarded £15,000 from the Wiltshire Shared Prosperity Fund and £5,000 from the Bernard Sunley Foundation. We are very grateful for their support and this brings our total funds raised to over £68,000. We have submitted an expression of interest for a grant from Community First and plan to make an application to the Lottery ‘Reaching Communities’ Fund which fully opens from 1st April.
In terms of the schedule for the shop, funding delays have added a few months and the project plan points to the shop opening in Summer 2026, rather than Spring as originally hoped. This date still relies on a fair wind with our new funding possibilities but we are travelling hopefully and getting everything lined up so that we are ready to move quickly as soon as funds are secured.
We also plan to apply to the Royal Countryside Fund. Part of their application process requires a short video, and we are very grateful to the Pitton residents who contributed to this, providing their views on the village and the need for a shop. (Matthew’s sheep performed well too!) Thanks also to SJ Wareham who edited the video for us. You can view the video by double clicking on the We also plan to apply to the Royal Countryside Fund. Part of their application process requires a short video, and we are very grateful to the Pitton residents who contributed to this, providing their views on the village and the need for a shop. (Matthew’s sheep performed well too!) Thanks also to SJ Wareham who edited the video for us. You can view the video by double clicking the video link.
In terms of the schedule for the shop, funding delays have added a few months and the project plan points to the shop opening in Summer 2026, rather than Spring as originally hoped. This date still relies on a fair wind with our new funding possibilities but we are travelling hopefully and getting everything lined up so that we are ready to move quickly as soon as funds are secured.
In terms of the schedule for the shop, funding delays have added a few months and the project plan points to the shop opening in Summer 2026, rather than Spring as originally hoped. This date still relies on a fair wind with our new funding possibilities but we are travelling hopefully and getting everything lined up so that we are ready to move quickly as soon as funds are secured.
November 2024
Planning permission granted As many of you already know we gained planning permission from Wiltshire Council – a huge milestone! A big thank you is due to the architects at Barclay Phillips who developed the plans and responded quickly to any queries or suggested amendments. We are also grateful to those of you who left supportive comments on the planning portal, as it demonstrated that there is a good deal of community support for the project.
Donations from Pitton and Farley and Firsdown Parish Councils have been received. Their support is very much appreciated.
Legal work is progressing well and both Pitton Community Store and Pitton Village Hall have appointed and instructed solicitors to work towards agreeing the lease for the land on which the shop will be built.
Fundraising We have now raised over £65,000 and are very grateful to everyone who has contributed through donations or share purchases. Thank you to all who contributed to the very successful fundraising Race Night at the village hall. This raised a magnificent £1,000 towards the capital building costs and provided an evening of fun for all.
Capital funding to cover the main build cost remains a challenge. The new government has still not indicated their plans for the Community Ownership fund. Our bid, developed with help from Plunkett, has been ready to go since before the election, but we are now treading water waiting to hear if those grants will still be available. In the meantime, we continue to investigate other funding streams, such as crowdfunding, lottery and smaller grants. We plan to bid for anything where we meet the criteria so if you hear of something that might fit or know of companies who may help sponsor us, do please let us know.
July 2024 – The Pioneer Share Scheme was very successful and raised the target of £31,000 within three weeks of the launch. We are happy to welcome all the new members of the Society.
We are very grateful for donations provided in addition to the share scheme, for professional services donated, and for the support of Firsdown Parish Council and Pitton & Farley Parish Council. This funding combines with the share offer to allow us to progress with legal work and complete the detailed planning. The full planning application to Wiltshire Council has been submitted.
Our first Annual Members’ Meeting on 15 June was well attended. No new Management Board members were proposed and the existing Board was voted in. The Chair highlighted that the strategy for 2024 is to raise the required funding, complete the legal work, obtain the planning permission and employ the contractors required to move forward with the build stage of the project.
A funding bid to the Community Ownership fund has been delayed due to the election. We hope this will open again soon as we have, with the help of Plunkett, prepared what we feel is a strong bid for funding the shop build. Other sources of capital funding, such as the national lottery, are also being pursued. All will require some match funding from local fundraising and other funding bodies, such as our local councils.
April 2024 – Discussions between the community shop and village hall committees have taken place. The village hall committee fully support creation of a shop on village hall land and have agreed Heads of Terms. They are currently seeking legal advice to understand what is required in terms of changes to trust deeds, development of a lease and permission from the Charity Commission.
We have received generous donations which will enable us to cover some of our set up costs including initial legal advice. Further fund raising will be required to complete these initial set up phases.
Work is progressing well on a number of fronts. We received a positive response from our Expression of Interest to the Community Ownership Fund and an invitation to submit a full bid. We are working on that now and plan to complete this by the end of May, with submission in July. There is a huge amount of work to do but this is progressing well.
We have qualified for 10 days intensive support from Plunkett (a community business charity funded in part by the Community Ownership Fund) to help us develop and refine our bid and are very grateful for that. Our meetings with them start this week.
A planning pre-application was submitted to Wiltshire Council in December and we received a favourable response, and also some areas to think further about (such as parking) before we submit the full planning application. Support for community shops is a key part of the Wiltshire Core Strategy for rural areas and their feedback has been very helpful.
We will launch the Pioneer Community Share Scheme at the end of April and a prospectus has been prepared. This has been submitted for The Community Shares Standard Mark (administered by the Co-operative and Community Capital Committee) which gives potential investors the assurance that community share offers are clear, honest and transparent.
Part of this process was to gain HMRC advance approval for tax relief as part of the Seed Enterprise Initiative Scheme and this has now been granted, following investment pledges of £14,000 from people in the community.
Following the public meeting, at which Pitton residents voted to support any changes to the Pitton Village Hall trust deed to allow leasing of village hall land, we have now signed a Heads of Terms agreement with the village hall Trustees. This is a forerunner to agreeing the lease for the land that the shop will be built on, next door to the village hall. We were grateful that 89% of those who attended the meeting supported this.
We recently got in touch with residents to refresh the results of the community survey which took place 18 months ago. This asked how important a shop and post office in Pitton were to the communities of Pitton, Farley and Firsdown. We were pleased to see that the huge support expressed at that time has not changed.
Further fund-raising is important. We ran a successful wine tasting event in December and plans are in place for several car boot sales beginning on the 19th May on the Pitton village hall field. We are always open to other ideas for fund-raising as we need to ensure we secure the match-funding required for other funding bids.
December 2023 – Residents of Pitton attended a Pitton Village Hall (PVH) public meeting on 6 December 2023 and gave resounding support for the PVH Management Committee’s proposal that “the Pitton Village Hall and Playing Fields Trust Deed should be changed to enable the development of a community shop on the premises”
With an 89% positive vote from attendees for PVH to lease land to the community store we now have a strong community endorsement to move forwards with our project. The next stages will be to work with the PVH management committee on the legal requirements, to undertake a pre application review of our proposal with Wiltshire Council planners, and prepare for the launch of our Pioneer share offer.
Pitton Community Store 