My Action Hampshire colleague Corinne and I recently visited the village hall and community shop in Preston Candover, a village halfway between Basingstoke and New Alresford. They’re located next to each other at the heart of the village, across the road from the local primary school, and are part of the real fabric of the community in the village and the surrounding countryside.
The village hall has a maximum capacity of 175 in the main hall and their annexe with a busy programme of regular events and one-off hires and events throughout the year including a village fête in the summer, bonfire night and a community Christmas meal attended by around 30-35 people. It’s been at the heart of the community in Preston Candover for over a century and is overseen by a volunteer committee of eight people.
We were shown round the village hall by Sarah, the vice chair of their committee, who has felt the real sense of community of Preston Candover since she was first house hunting in the area! She said the real key to the success of the village hall was making it a community hub, including focusing on tackling loneliness locally by having activities like the over 60s lunch club, cooked by volunteers (including delivering meals to people in the village who are unable to attend) and having the hall available for birthdays, wedding receptions and wakes. They have an excellent relationship with the community shop next door as well, who use a back room of the hall as their stockroom.
Candover Valley Store, the neighbouring shop, is community owned and (like the village hall) overseen by a volunteer committee. We met Dave and Emma who showed us around and told us about some of the events they put on and the local suppliers the shop uses.
The shop was established in 2019 and has people using it not just from the village, but from miles around. They are also a hub for fundraising locally (including a recent raffle that raised £1,300 for Hampshire Air Ambulance), as well as putting on events such as tasting events for locally produced food and wine from a local vineyard. Candover Valley Store also hosts the village Post Office.
Action Hampshire is proud to have played a part in the establishment of the Candover Valley Store. Lucy Muncey, who has been on the management committee from the start, took part in one of our year-long training programmes for budding social entrepreneurs in the first year the shop was operating. We hope we helped give them a good start!
Corinne and I were inspired by these two wonderful facilities, owned and run by their local community and providing everything from essential commodities to big local events and everything in between for the people of Preston Candover and the surrounding area. All year-round community buildings like this are available right around Hampshire at the heart of the lives of the people who live there. If you haven’t visited or used one in a while, take time to check out what’s available and what’s on and keep them in mind for any events you’re putting on. Our communities would be poorer without them!
Follow this link to find out more about how we support community buildings
