Members of a village shop committee celebrated nine months of successful operation under community ownership at a meeting of more than 60 supporters last week.

Local residents who bought shares in The Pantry in St Briavels joined committee members at the village Pavilion last Wednesday (October 13) to celebrate the achievement, with the long-term viability of the shop having come under threat last year.

The shop, which was setup in 2014 in what used to be St Briavels Butcher’s shop, was taken over by a committee of local residents established by St Briavels Parish Council when the most recent owners left in November 2020.

The newly formed committee had faced "a daunting prospect" when confronted with the problems of having no official status, no money, no staff and no bank account, all in the middle of a lockdown.

But with the generous support of the previous owners, a £2,000 grant from the parish council, a "timely" grant of £8,000 from the St Briavels Wind Turbine fund and a "very successful" community share offer, the shop successfully reopened on January 4 as a community benefit society.

The community share offer saw 155 members buy 1,116 shares at £10 each, raising the sum of £11,660, which provided the "confidence and capital" to launch the enterprise.

Since its opening, the Pantry has continued to provide "vital support" to the local community.

During lockdown, the shop ensured that people could obtain essential supplies locally, often delivered to the doors of those in isolation, and also acted as an information hub for the village.

Further grants from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s fund, the Forest of Dean Accessibility team and the district council’s Business Start Up scheme have allowed the committee to make several improvements to the shop, including enabling greater accessibility for people in wheelchairs, implementing an electronic point of sale system, and, most recently, a refitting of the shelves and fixtures to allow more space in the shop.

The committee says the improvements have only been achieved because of the support of a "very dedicated" team of volunteers, which has enabled the paid staff to keep the shop open five and a half days a week.

One of the volunteers commented: "In supporting the Pantry as volunteers, it enables the Pantry to support us.

"We need to look after it and volunteering to help run it is just the best way to do that."

The treasurer of the committee reported at last week’s meeting that the shop is on course to make "a small surplus" over its first year, which will be used to carry out further improvements and to support other community activities.

A spokesperson for the committee said: "With great support from local people, a viable enterprise has been created which has served the community and helped to bring it together again after the long lockdown.

"A huge thank you to our volunteers and staff for this wonderful achievement."

The spokesperson added that the shop "can never have enough volunteers", and anyone interested in helping in any way should email [email protected].