Ide Hill Community Shop, Ide Hill Village Hall, Sevenoaks

This is a project for the replacement of a temporary community shop with a permanent facility, built on village hall land and leased by the village hall to the community shop at a peppercorn rent. The shop will reduce the need for villagers to travel by car to the supermarket and other shops. There is a policy to stock high-quality local produce, thus reducing food miles. The community shop offers the opportunity to volunteers and community members to meet each other, promoting social cohesion. The facility is set up as a Community Interest Company (CIC), which is a business with primarily social objectives, whose surpluses are principally reinvested for that purpose in the business, rather than being driven to maximise profit for shareholders and owners.