A market town's community shop has made £1m - thanks to a genius idea that is inspiring fundraisers across the UK
Kington may be small but one of its shops has made a million pounds – thanks to a genius idea.
The Kington & District Community Shop is loaned to different groups each week and has raised over £1 million since it was first opened in 2009.
Every week a different group stocks and staffs it, with all the proceeds made during the week going to fund their individual activities.
Groups of all kinds take their turn in the shop from schools, churches, sports groups, festivals, village halls, WI’s, health organisations and so on.
Over almost 20 years hundreds of groups have benefited from super-charged fundraising, the community has saved countless items from going to waste by recycling and re-using and many people have forged friendships and found a new lease of life by socialising.
“I never dreamed the shop would still be going all these years later and would make a million pounds,” said its founder Rita Langford.
“It is marvellous really and something to really be proud of for the whole community.
“I have been presented with the civic award by the town council, the BEM and a Point of Light award by then Prime Minister David Cameron - I did not do it for that, but it just goes to show that people do appreciate it.
“It has just been nice to do it, to help the community and people in our town and area. I never dreamed that it would be going so long and we now have a committee because it’s got too big for me to do it myself.
“Without the kindness, loyalty and support from all the local organisations and the committee, the shop would not be so successful.”
'Pre-loved items become someone else's new passion'
Other people’s pre-loved items become someone else’s new passion and all those small bargains have added up to fuel the local economy and the community.
The shop’s shelves are filled with changing stock that has been donated and there’s often a queue outside on a Wednesday morning when a new group takes over. The shop is so popular there is a waiting list of around 10 organisations at the moment.
Most transactions are around £1 to £2 and most groups raise an average of about £1,200 to £1,400 in a week, a huge boost for some small organisations in the area. Some groups have raised a lot more too.
It also benefits others shops as people pop into other retailers while in the town.
Kington and District Community Shop was set up by Rita.
She ran David’s Den charity shop for years and often did table sales for different groups within David’s Den.
When the time commitment became too great, Rita decided to give it up. But Rita was determined to keep on raising money for charity and missed that business buzz, so she decided to let the shop out to different charities to run it each week, and it became a full charity shop in 2009.
Inspiring others
The model has gathered interest from people outside the town who aim to emulate Rita’s success in their own communities and the shop is now being held up as a model to replicate nationwide.
The shop is now run by a small committee with Rita back at the helm as chairman after six years when secretary Richie Cotterill was chairman. They are joined by Adrian Wilcox as treasurer, Trudy Brown as fundraiser, Jan Cotterill as health and safety officer and Amber Baulch as cleaner and committee member.
When asked how long the shop will go on, Rita said: “How long is a piece of string,” and Richie added: “What we have got is a thing that is built to last.”
Walton Village Hall are running the shop this week and they will be followed by Bryngwyn Riding for the Disabled Association, Kinnerton Village Hall and Women’s Institute, Kington Community Choir, New Radnor Community Centre, Knill Church and Almeley Church
Any group that would like to join the waiting list for the shop should email kingtoncommunityshop@outlook.com. Groups must be based within a 10 mile radius and be a local group or have a branch of a regional or national charity in the local area.
