Wow, we have done it! We have opened our BIGGER and BETTER Community Shop and Café (see centre spread). A big thank you to everyone involved in making this building project such a success and to everyone who attended our opening event on Saturday 7 September. I am sure you will agree it was a fantastic occasion, and a big thank you to Adam Henson who did the honours and cut the ribbon for us.

With the new, bigger and better café we will be serving some new and delicious homemade, very local cakes made by our super volunteers, Louise and Valerie. These cakes will be seasonal to reflect the flavours and seasons of our year. So why not pop into the café and try some of our yummy cakes!

With blackberries still in the hedges, and apples, pears & figs falling from the trees, these delicious fruits make us aware that autumn is fast approaching. Why not savour the moment and make some jams, jellies, cakes and crumbles, with all jam and baking ingredients you’ll need from our shop.

Coming in the next few days will be winter squashes, curly kale, and purple sprouting broccoli. These are a perfect accompaniment to making a hot and delicious tasty homemade soup or even a hearty stew to put in the oven to aid the colder days upon us.

If you are new to Bledington you may not know that we have a daily delivery of fresh bread, milk, fruit, and vegetables. These deliveries all come from local suppliers. Four days a week we also receive a delivery of freshmeats, including sausages, chicken fillets and mince beef. If you need anything extra, then please do contact the shop.

I am so proud to announce we’ve been nominated for a Best Community Organisation Award in the North Cotswolds Awards. Voting is easy. Just go to northcotswoldsawards.co.uk and in the voting section select the Community Organisation award category. Voting closes at the end of October so please support us and vote now!

As we move forward to darker evenings and cosy nights by the fire, we will be changing our opening hours. From the last Sunday in October our opening hours will remain 9.00am-5.00pm Monday-Saturday, but on Sundays we will close at 2.00pm. Shop early on Sunday to avoid disappointment.

As always, I am incredibly grateful to all my amazing volunteers who very generously give up their time to help and support me in the shop. Whether it be stacking shelves, serving customers, or washing aprons,every little bit of help is always gratefully appreciated!

If you would like to get involved, please do contact me. You can pop into the shop, email me on manager@bledingtonshop.com or telephone me 01608 659977. I look forward to you joining our team.

We have made a good start to the shop extension. You will have noticed the walls are up, the outside terrace is finished and the windows and doors are ready to be installed. Mike Logue and his team are making great progress and I will update you very soon with a date for our grand opening.

Of course we are open for business and still offering our wide variety of fresh foods, hot drinks and home made delicious cakes. Plus all your grocery needs.

Isn’t it wonderful to finally see some sun and to feel some warmth on our faces. With the warmer weather it means new fruits and vegetables have arrived in the shop. Have you tried our amazing nectarines and peaches, plus broad beans and don’t forget the sweetest strawberries. I must confess I have eaten far too many this year!

Although we made it to the shortlist for the South West region for the Countryside Alliance Awards we were not selected for the final but were main proud to be “up there” with the best and will enter again next year.

Have you seen the many new products we have started stocking this summer? Sparking Ginger Kombucha is a delicious healthy drink made from green tea, infused with lively zest of Kombucha cultures and the essence of ginger. You will find this in our cold drinks fridge. For our breakfast cereal lovers we have a new blend of “Dorset” cereals. A classic fruit, nuts and seeds museli.

We also launched, at the Bledington Fête, our brand new beer “Tail Feathers”. This new beer has been especially brewed for us by Virtue Brewing based in Milton-under-Wychwood. An English Pale Ale, golden/blonde with a crisp fruity floral aroma. A Duckling good beer. Many thanks to the super talented Amy Jackson for her amazing, designed label.

We are still collecting donations for the North Cotswold Food Bank. The box is located by the entrance door when you come into the shop.We are always overwhelmed by the generosity of our customers. Each week we fill up a huge box of groceries these are then distributed to those in our community who need a little extra help. On behalf of North Cotswold Food Bank thank you again.

If you are new to Bledington and Foscot and would like to give back to your community then, maybe, you might consider volunteering in the shop? If you would like to get involved then please do contact me for a chat. It’s fun, easy and a great way to meet your neighbours.

British Summertime has finally arrived, how lovely to see the sunshine and enjoy a few days of warmth. Thankfully in the shop we have air conditioning, which is being generated by our solar panels, making the shop even more green.

Don’t forget our fruit and vegetables are delivered to us daily from Drinkwaters. Our amazing selection are not packaged in lots of plastic, you can buy exactly what you need, plus it helps to reduce food waste which is very important to us all.

Mike Logue and his team of builders are making great progress, helping us extend our community shop and café. They have installed the outside patio area and the floor for the extension is now being laid.

With the better weather you may consider throwing open your windows and do some Spring cleaning. We have everything you need plus a great selection of eco-friendly cleaning products.

Have you seen our fantastic selection of ready-made frozen foods. Lodge Farm, a small family-run business in Herefordshire creates lovingly homemade gourmet frozen ready meals. They carefully source all their ingredients from reputable suppliers who share the same ethos about food and the environment. From casseroles, to pies, they also have a great selection of vegan and vegetarian ready meals. Easy, convenient and totally delicious. Which one will you try first?

A big thank you to those of you who volunteer in the shop. I know that helping in the shop is a great way of giving something back to the village and the local community. We are always looking for new volunteers please do pop into the shop and have a chat. Its lots of fun.