Milestone for Community Shop

Monday saw yet another round of funding from the Rye Community Shop on Cinque Ports Street. This was our third funding round since the shop opened in January 2016 and with these grants, we have reached a significant milestone by awarding just over £40,000 in total, all to charities, community groups and clubs within the Rye & District area.
Since opening in January 2016 we have been able to support many groups, preschool groups and primary schools, among other,s to meet funding shortfalls or to help with specific projects.
We have supported building repairs and improvements at Camber Memorial Hall, Beckley and Rye Harbour Village Halls and the Rye Community Centre. Also assisted were clubs such as Playden WI, Iden Bowls Club, Rye Allotments Assoc, Camera 1066 Club, Camber Residents Assoc, our local Scout and two Guide troops, the Rye Wurlitzer Academy and the Rye Harbour Sailing Club’s Sailability programme for the disabled.
We continue to help fund the Rye Community Transport’s 326 bus service and the Rye Day Centre, two vital community services, as well as the Rye Art Gallery’s art competition with our local primary schools. We have funded specific projects within the Rye Primary, Playden Primary and Peasmarsh Primary Schools as well as at pre-school Nurseries and after-school clubs in both Rye and Camber. We have also supported the Music Well, another important local initiative.
In support of environmental initiatives we have supported the Rye Community Garden, the Rye Harbour Discovery Centre and St Bartholomew’s Court Residents Association which aims to build a recreational facility for residents. Not forgetting the more vulnerable in our community, we have also helped to provide funding for the Rye Street Pastors, Rye Dementia Action Alliance and the food bank and provided funding for Care for the Carers.
In addition, for the second year in 2017, we hosted a Christmas day lunch event for those within our community who would otherwise have spent the day on their own. We were incredibly fortunate to receive the Aldi giveaway initiative which provided us with more than £2,000 worth of perishable food which was distributed to the Hastings Snowflake night shelter, to the Rye Day Centre, our local Syrian refugee family and many in need in our locality.
Without the continued support from the community in terms of donors and volunteers, we would not been able to achieve any of this so a huge thank you must be given to everyone who has made this shop the success that it is. We had no idea when we opened whether it would be successful but with the help of many volunteers past and present, the figures speak for themselves. We opened with a leap of faith and the community picked up the baton and ran with it. On behalf of all the recipients and the Trustees, thank you.
Kenneth Bird writes: Trustees of the Community Shop in Cinque Ports Street shared out a magnificent total of £17,082 amongst 17 local charities last Monday April 23. Owing to her busy schedule, patron Amber Rudd MP was unable to be present as on previous occasions, so the presentations were made by Dave Pellen, one of the trustees. He thanked the volunteers for their continued support and hard work.

Photo: Amy Hope