Village Life
Since 1896, the village shop has been at the heart of the community of Rushlake Green and the surrounding areas. For the last 92 years the shop has been run by the Daw family from Henry to Phil to Lionel. It has always provided a wide and eclectic range of provisions and has long been the home of the village Post Office. As other shops and enterprises have come and gone, the Village Shop has survived the changing times. To the people clustered around the Green and throughout the Parish, the Shop has always provided a community focus. Many - including those in Osborne House, depend on it not only for its post office and the other provisions that it supplies, but also as a source of identity, contact and continuity for village life.

Uncertain future
Jill and Lionel Daw, the current owners, now feel that it is time to retire. With nobody in the family immediately interested in continuing to run the shop, it has been decided to sell the shop by auction at the beginning of October. Many in the village are fearful that a change of ownership may result in the village being deprived of an important part of its fabric.
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Rushlake Green Village Shop (RGVS) campaign
A group of villagers, most of whom have lived in the village for many years, has put together a Campaign to enable the community to work together to ensure the continued existence of a village shop brings the community together, responds to the needs of residents and helps sustain village life. A further aim is to make certain, as far as it is possible, the future of the post Office. Residents and other people with the future of the shop at heart are invited to join the RGVS Community Group, and help support the campaign’s aims. The campaign group’s preferred outcome has always been the emergence of a buyer who genuinely aims to continue to run and develop the shop as a valued hub for the community.
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Community solution
In the absence of a suitable buyer, ready to run the shop, the future of Daws Stores as it currently exists is uncertain. The proposed solution to this is the creation of Community Shop. A shop leased or owned by the community, run for the benefit of the community and actively supported by the community through the investment of time, energy and financial support. And whilst Lionel’s father, Phil Daw, and Lionel regret that the shop will not continue to be run by their family, they would like to see it continue as a shop and support the community’s efforts. For a summary of the financial options for setting up a community shop, click ‘Taking it on’.

The shop is well situated in a relatively affluent and populous area with a significant existing customer base. This can be retained and built upon by continuing the personal, community service and adding other services and product ranges as identified by our recent community survey. The shop, run as a community shop is clearly a viable proposition.
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Growing support
Our community survey showed that of those who responded, 100% think a local shop is important for village life. And 99% also think that losing the shop would be damaging to the community. In a packed village meeting on the subject, those attending showed overwhelming support for the idea of a campaign to create a community shop for the benefit of the Warbleton & Rushlake Green Parish. Throughout this community project to date, the campaign team has been inundated with offers of help, from people volunteering to distribute newsletters, help with admin and work part time in the shop to offers of expertise including shop fitting, retail design, building renovation, graphic design, web creation and fund-raising.
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