12 Jul Cottingham Village Stores & Café
Cottingham Village Stores & Café is one of scores of businesses to have signed up for Northamptonshire’s Full Circle project, pledging its support and commitment to protecting the environment and to help reduce food waste.
‘Buy local, sell local’ – that is the message that comes out loud and clear from the team at Cottingham Village Stores.
This community shop, which serves the North Northamptonshire villages of Cottingham and Middleton and is nestled between Corby and Market Harborough, sources all its meat from local farms, sells jams, marmalades and honey made by local producers and buys and sells its milk from the local dairies.
The wider community also gets in on the act, with allotment holders from the village donating their excess seasonal produce to the shop, to ensure nothing goes to waste.
Retired NHS Consultant, Sue Aspinall, the shop’s secretary, said: “We order in fresh produce every week from our suppliers and are always looking for more local suppliers and products. We may be a small player but we like to think being part of Full Circle will put us on the map a bit more.”
As well as being featured on the Full Circle interactive map (which shows where all the food businesses, food banks and food larders are situated in north of the county), the community shop has also signed up to the Food Loop app, which matches businesses who may be seeking to receive or use food supplies with other businesses that have unwanted produce.
About Cottingham Village Stores & Care
Cottingham Village Stores & Café is a community shop serving the North Northamptonshire villages of Cottingham and Middleton, with a population of approximately 1,500.
The premises date back to the 1920s, with the small corner shop and cafésituated in the middle of Cottingham’s crossroads, the beating heart of its community.
The team is made up of six management committee members, three part-time staff and 12 volunteers.
Cottingham Village Stores & Café has been owned by a Christian organisation since 2011 and the committee rents the premises for around £5,000 a year.
Sue added: “The organisation is not involved in the day-to-day activities of the shop or café, and we just about teeter on the brink of financial viability. We were sustained through the pandemic by some COVID grants and were able to stay open throughout, serving food, coffees and teas from a safe distance at the doorway.”
“The village stores has a small footprint with limited fridge and freezer space. Every inch of it is filled with fresh, locally sourced produce, along with anything villagers may run out of.We are competing against supermarkets which people can easily drive to from here, but the shop has so much history and we are supported by villagers as well as ramblers and cyclists exploring the Jurassic Way.”
Cottingham Village Stores & Café’s opening hours: Every Sunday to Wednesday from 8am to 1pm, Thursdays to Saturdays from 8am to 4pm
Website: www.cottinghamshop.wordpress.com
Tel: 01536 770097
Facebook: The Cottingham and Middleton village store and café