A COMMUNITY has celebrated the opening of its revamped shop and a new café after it raised £250,000 for the redevelopment to take place.

Earlier in December, St Mary Bourne residents came together to welcome the opening of The Boundary, previously St Mary Bourne Village Shop.

Manager Lara Madge said: “It was something that came about after talking to people in the community about what they would like in the shop and what they would like the shop to become.

“It became clear that there was room for improvement as far as extending our range.”

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Lara said that many people wanted a section in the shop for products with zero packaging, where they were able to refill certain items and pay for just what they needed.

Following discussions, it was decided that the community interest company which ran the shop would be changed into a community benefit society.

The community were then given the opportunity to buy shares - £250,000 was raised from the shares, along with events including bingo and an Abba night.

“Whoever bought shares has one vote each to allow everyone to become involved in the community vote,” Lara said.

Whilst work was carried out the shop and Post Office moved into the village hall for three months. The building was then extended to allow for its offerings to expand.

As well as the refill area, there is also more space for value products which was important due to the current cost-of-living crisis, along with a new cafe.

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“The expansion was born out of Covid, all of a sudden village shops found themselves at the centre of their communities,” Lara added.

“St Mary Bourne also wanted to be much more resilient, as well as a self-sufficient community.”

The expanded building was opened by the village’s eldest resident Gordon Pearce, who is 101.

Lara said: “It is more than we could have hoped for, it really is lovely.”

And speaking about the change of name, the manager added: “The extension has a massive glass door that overlooks the cricket pitch, hence The Boundary.

“There are also a lot of other hamlets and villages in the parish and we didn’t want people to be excluded.”