About The Town Community Shop Community Shop
Community Shop
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A grant has recently been granted to Amesbury Town Council to run a Community Information Point in Amesbury.
The shop is a much needed local access point for a range of public and community services, including job advice, access to ICT, health advice, volunteer group information, a small meeting place for community groups and surgery for community police and town councillors. The shop may also be a place to display plans for public consultations.
The Need
As with many towns in Wiltshire, Amesbury has been greatly affected by the economic downturn, resulting in an increase of empty shops in the town. The overall appearance of the town is in danger of becoming depressing, with future potential for graffiti and damage to property. As a consequence, prospective shop owners could be put off from opening a business in town.
As a rural town, we do not have many of the services available to larger towns and cities. Amesbury has seen an increase in the number of residents moving in from abroad, bringing language and cultural differences. Amesbury’s population is ever growing, the local housing developments contain 40% affordable housing, and many of these residents have been housed from outside the area. With so many new families moving into Amesbury, the Local Information Shop will offer a great opportunity for them to find out information about the area including schools, health and childcare
This project gives a great opportunity to engage with all these Amesbury residents, giving them the opportunity to gain information on a number of different services and help with any concerns they may have - all accessible under one roof.
Location
We are fortunate to be able to use The Old Forge Shop, which has been standing empty for over 18 months. It is a large shop in a prime location, situated on the A345 in Stonehenge Walk. We have the agreement of the shop owners to use the shop whilst it is still being marketed.
We plan for the shop to be multi functional, helping to promote and build a stronger, more sustainable community. As well as improving the appearance of the empty shops, the Local Information Shop will be run successfully with volunteer support from interested groups.
There has already been an overwhelmingly positive response to this project from a large number of different groups and bodies including:
For Inclusion in the Local Information Shop: