PEOPLE in a Hampshire village are fighting back against the supermarket giants by opening their own community shop and café.

Braishfield residents opened the Village Pantry in the village hall last year and, 12 months on, they are preparing for work to start on a purpose built shop and café next to the hall.

Parish councillor Clive John, who is a member of the village hall committee and a volunteer at the Village Pantry, has designed the new building which is costing in the region of £70,000, a large chunk of which will come from Hampshire and Test Valley councils.

Hampshire donated £20,000 towards the project and the village’s county councillor, Alan Dowden, handed over the cheque to the committee.

Mr John said: “We are over the moon to get this money. Test Valley has already given us £25,000, now we’ve got this from Hampshire County Council. The village hall committee has been fundraising for the past four years and has put up £15,000 and Braishfield parish gave a £700 grant. Now all we need is another £10,000 to fit the shop out to the standard we’d like to see.

“The timber-framed building has been ordered and is being manufactured off-site for delivery and erection in late September.”

Before the opening of the Village Pantry in August last year, Braishfield had not had a village shop for more than a decade. Nearly all the goods sold at the Village Pantry are sourced in Hampshire.

About 40 volunteers and one part-time manager, Marian Randall, run the shop, which also doubles as a community meeting place where people can socialise and have a cup of tea and chat with friends and neighbours in the village while they do their shopping.

The present Village Pantry is only open limited hours five days a week.

Mr John added: “When the new shop opens we will be greatly extending our hours and the stock we sell which a large portion is largely sourced locally. It will be more than a shop. It will be our community meeting place for young and old alike where they can have coffee and cakes.

“Some elderly people come in now for their breakfast. We hope to have the new shop up and running by the end of October or early November.”

After handing the cheque over, Mr Dowden said: “I was very encouraged to see so many people using the Village Pantry and I am sure they will use the new shop too. They have a lot of local produce including buffalo steaks. I spoke to an elderly lady in the café who has lived in the village for 30 years and she met another lady who lives on the same road as she does for the first time.

"They are now going to keep in touch. I was very impressed with this invaluable local facility that the community can access." and create friendships in. The whole success of it will all depend on volunteers and I wish them well.”