THE SHOP and Café at Crowle is celebrating its fIfth birthday with a series of events this autumn for parishioners and the volunteers who have made it a highly successful community enterprise.
More than 100 local people helped to create the Shop and Café at Crowle, which is owned by the local community and, such has been its success, since it opened in October 2018, that the building has been extended to increase its sales area, back-of-house storage and office facilities and a gazebo has been erected in the outside seating area of the café.
As well as offering ‘convenience’ top-up shopping, it has stocked an ever-growing range of exciting products and produce from more than 20 local farmers and suppliers including pies and sausages, savouries, bread, cheeses, chutneys, cakes, biscuits, jams, ice cream, beer, cider, fruit juice, fruit and vegetables and more.
The Shop and Café is well used by Crowle and the surrounding villages, but it has also become a great stop-off place for passing cyclists, walkers, and runners to buy refreshments, as well as local clubs using Crowle’s playing fields and village hall facilities.
Joan Goodman, joint manager, said: “The success of the Shop lies with its volunteers, but also it is clearly far more than ‘just a shop’ – it has become an important focal point for our community. It is a great place to meet and make friends and chat; and it provides a way for volunteers of all ages to put something back into the community and gain work experience.”
Joint manager Lisa Andrews added: “The shop’s success has not only boosted the local economy but helped the environment through fewer food miles by supporting local suppliers and farmers.”
