COMMUNITY spirited volunteers in a Hampshire village have come to the rescue of their local shop – keeping essentials in supply for residents after its owners were forced to self-isolate owing to the coronavirus crisis.

The Longparish Village Shop & Post Office is the only place where villagers can stock up on supplies without having to drive to a neighbouring town after the government introduced strict measures to tackle the spread of coronavirus. When the shop’s owners Pat and Anne Burke and their staff selfi-solated Longparish faced losing an essential lifeline.

But the community swung into action – building up a volunteer base of 30 people to keep the shop open for at least two hours a day so that residents can still get supplies.

The effort has been led by Longparish Community Support Group, and they have set up a two week rota which includes deliveries for people in need. Villagers have recently launched a bid to save their local pub The Plough Inn by taking it into community ownership by selling shares in an effort to raise £750,000.

The Longparish Community Pub Ltd, a community benefit society (CBS), was due to start selling shares within days, but have had to delay the project. The CBS are members of the Plunkett Foundation, a national charity which support rural community businesses.

Andy Jolliffe, chairman of Longparish Community Pub Ltd, said: “Keeping the shop open, stocked and able to supply those in need has been vital for this village. As a community we have always been a really strong one. This is another challenge that we have had to turn to each other and find a solution.

“Trying to save The Plough Inn had opened up channels in terms of connections between people and has meant we were well placed to spring into action when this latest challenge faced us”

Maintaining supplies to the shop during the crisis and whilst it is being operated by volunteers has been another challenge for villagers. But thanks to the lobbying of the local MP Caroline Noakes supplies are still getting through to the shop.

James Alcock, chief executive of national charity the Plunkett Foundation: “The residents of Longparish clearly have a passion to protect rural services, as we can see in their efforts to save the local pub. It is impressive to see how quickly they have managed to spur local volunteers into action and keep their local shop up and running, and importantly keeping vital supplies available for those most in need.

“This kind of can-do spirit will surely serve them well as they strive to take their local pub into community ownership. Issues such as loss of amenities and isolation in rural areas are well known. And we know from the many pubs we have supported that when they are in community ownership they can do so much more than just be a pub as they help tackle these issues.”

Any community group is interested in saving their local pub or shop under community ownership should get in touch with Plunkett on 01993 810 730.