Village community shop victorious at national awards
Titchmarsh Village Shop has been crowned a winner at the 2025 Rural Community Business Awards, hosted by the charity, Plunkett UK.
The shop, located near Thrapston, was successful in the ‘More Than’ Award sponsored by Good Finance, which celebrates community businesses that offer a diverse range of services and amenities for local people.
The community-owned business was honoured for how it hosts and organises several activities include fetes, open days, theatre lunches, bacon bap mornings, and charity fashion shows. These events have nurtured strong village ties and fostered lasting relationships.
Committee member John Wills, “We're absolutely delighted to have won the 'More Than' Award. The secret to our success is to have a great village with great support and a team of great volunteers.”
The shop proactively supports residents who may struggle to visit physically through an informal phone-order and home-delivery service. At the other end of the age spectrum, it hosts educational visits from the local primary school and Brownie pack to help children develop practical shopping skills and budgeting experience.
More than 60 individuals from across the UK put forward their community business and individual champions for the nine categories in this year’s awards, sponsored by Lands Improvement, and held at the Royal Society of Chemistry in London earlier this month.
Sarah Benn, Membership Manager at Plunkett UK, says, “It has been a great joy to recognise and celebrate all of the finalists at this Rural Community Business Awards. Each one is truly dedicated to making a difference in their community, and having a considerable impact on the lives of local people in a variety of different ways. Well done to all of this year’s winners – their award is very much deserved!”
Plunkett UK is a national charity which supports people in rural areas to set up and run a wide range of businesses in community ownership. It does this to achieve its UK-wide vision for resilient, thriving and inclusive rural communities.
There are more than 800 community-owned businesses across the UK, and each one is democratically owned by community members. They can be any type of business ranging from village shops, pubs and cafes, through to woodlands, fisheries and farms.
For more information about the shop, go to https://titchmarsh.info/titchmarsh-village-shop/
For more information about Plunkett, go to https://plunkett.co.uk