A fantastic visit and came away with brilliant ideas on moving forward. Their community shop is up and running and of great value to local folk. Very professionally run, with a post office in place too. A ‘village shop’ idea, the wee shop is a labour of love and provides a lot of items very cheaply. Also gave us ideas of type of products to provide and how to supply (many products come in multiple packs and can be very expense – or just not needed in that amount – they provide one or two of each which saves a lot of money and is achievable). Provision of food bags with small recipes that are tried, tested and popular. We’re taking this idea on board too.

We run a community fridge however we were looking at becoming a stand-alone pantry however, after discussion with the team at CDT, we’ve decided to go with the shop idea. There’s a more dignity in practice involved here which clients having a basket and deciding their own shopping needs, with a ‘checkout’ at the end. At this stage there’s an opportunity to share information, to find out a bit more about the family/individual needs and create an ongoing relationship through time,

Learning Outcomes

• The first is to see how CDT set up their shop at the beginning and the support and management involved, and to compare and discuss similarities with what we’re doing already (one of our volunteers will lead on this.
• To discuss similarities between our communities and how they identified the need for a shop (and why a shop?). This will be an open discussion. To learn from each other, discuss stories etc.
• How they started and the process to follow – also to plan a support strategy. Here we will also look at getting feedback from each of the volunteers from each group.

"We discussed our journeys with start-up and becoming a development trust. She shared a lot of really relevant information and our stories are very similar, right down to the pressure involved! CDT are way ahead of us in development. They provide such a lot of support right in the middle of the community and a lot of activities take place in their own building. Made me realise how 'hemmed' in we are in the shopping centre unit. Also encouraged me to initiate progress to our next steps. Prioritising how we go forward as a charity/DT and what our priorities should be according to Springburn Local Place Plan. A brilliant visit and we left feeling very positive and motivated. Lastly, what really helped overall was to hear Carnhill's journey. It's a high stress environment and the needs are great. We were reassured that we are doing the 'right things' and following the right paths. Knowing that helped a lot. Issues we face are common ones. Support and suggestions to move forward helped a lot as there wasn't anything that we've faced, that the CDT team haven't already come across. Reassuring."