Friday Trader Market Just the Start for Shopless Normandy Villagers

Published on: 17 Apr, 2021
Updated on: 20 Apr, 2021

By Bob Hutton, photos Mandy Millyard

The lively Normandy market, held every Friday (click any image to enlarge)

At long last, Normandy now has a village shopping experience where residents can buy a range of groceries. And that’s just the start of an exciting new project.

In the short term, the Community Shop and Café Management Committee, a group of dedicated local volunteers, raised funds and arranged for a group of traders to visit the village every Friday morning.

Tim from T&J Fisheries, filleting a monkfish. One lady said: “the fish is so fresh and delicious”

Judging by the queue, it seems that others agree

So now, villagers can buy quality fish, fruit and vegetables, bread, patisserie and cakes as well as meat from the local Hunts Hill Farm and jams and honey from other local producers. Feedback from visitors to the stalls has been enthusiastic.

But plans are well advanced to set up a permanent community-owned shop and café in the centre of the village.

The “Brown Bread” stall was far from dead

The first part of the fundraising has been the offer of community shares, where each investor becomes a society member with a vote at annual general meetings and the prospect of a directorship.

At the meat stall Georgina from Hunt’s Hill Farm, Normandy

A portion of profits will be retained by the society to keep the shop and café operating with excess going to help fund other community projects.

Jean’s Jam’s and…

The shop will stock wide variety of products and the café will provide a much-needed focal point for the village, where friends and families can meet for tea or coffee and a cake and catch up on the latest news.

…Astrid Hog’s Back Honey

Community shops are much more resilient and successful than traditional outlets. There are already about 400 community businesses trading in the UK.

After five years, 92.5% of community shops are still trading against about 45% for traditional retail business (Source: The Plunkett Foundation www.plunkett.co.uk).

The Parisian Deli had a good range of cheeses and cold meats

The village target of £90,000 has been reached, and an application is going in for the remainder of the funding from Surrey County Council’s “Your Fund Surrey”, details of which can be found on the council’s website.

Boz’s Fruit and Veg stall – Steve says: “Many people have stopped their online deliveries, and just come here instead”

It is certainly popular

You can find more details of the project on these sites:

Website: http://www.normandyshop.co.uk

Fundraising http://crowdfunder.co.uk/normandyshop

YouTube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_eA83uWLbpVquvaLRxpdSw

YourFund https://www.surreycc.gov.uk/people-and-community/voluntary-community-and-faith-sector/funding/community-projects-fund

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