East Boldre Community Stores
EBCS Management Committee
Most shops operate as companies making money for the owners or shareholders. Community businesses operate for the benefit of the community they serve rather than for profit and have a different legal structure. We are members of the Plunkett Foundation who advise community businesses.
Following expert advice from the Plunkett Foundation, our community shop was set up as a Community Benefit Society (CBS) in October 2020. Most community shops opt for this structure.
As a CBS we are registered with the Financial Conduct Authority and are listed on their Mutuals' Public Register as well as on Companies House. We are governed by a set of rules based on the Plunkett Foundation's recommended model.
Public Meetings
Public meetings were held 8th (Zoom) and 11th July (Village Hall).
If you missed them you can view slideset here
Anna Rostand
I was brought up in the New Forest. Having worked in London on Vogue and Tatler magazine I then helped my husband start his food business and ran a deli on Quay Hill, Lymington in the 80’s. We’ve lived in Brockenhurst, Beaulieu and Lymington. I was a District Councillor for 12 years with the New Forest District Council sitting on the planning committee. I was also a Town Councillor for Lymington and Mayor for two years up until my husband died and I moved to East Boldre.
One of the deciding factors to buy my property was the village shop. We are so lucky to have a shop and I will do all that I can to help keep it.
Mike Hawker
I’ve lived in East Boldre for 35 years. A Chartered Accountant with over 20 years experience as a chief executive in major retail organisations. Currently a non-executive/trustee in the health, education and charity sectors.
The shop is a vital asset providing a point of focus in a linear village. A post office selling newspapers, sweets and tobacco has evolved into a ‘village store’ picking up the slack left by the closure of the nearby general store about 30 years ago. A convenience for some and a lifeline for others.
Judith Richardson
I’ve moved to East Boldre in recent years. I have significant experience of administrative roles from my professional career in the retail and finance industries and later working for the NHS.
I am keen to get involved and make a contribution to the community. Becoming part of the Village Shop team seemed like a perfect opportunity and I am passionate that we continue to have this great asset in our village.
Nick Thompson
I have had a wide ranging career including 16 years commissioned military service, 10 years teaching, 4 years in industry and 13 years in the NHS. Now retired, I have a number of voluntary posts some of which challenged me personally and gave me exposure to different cultures, lifestyles and expectations. I also work for SSAFA, the armed forces charity.
I am married to Sarah and we are very happy to have recently moved to East Boldre. Recently we were delighted to become grandparents. I look forward to participating in our local community and in particular, the Community Shop project.
Alison Moore-Gwyn
Alison qualified as a solicitor and specialised in property law before spending most of her working life in the voluntary and charitable sectors.
She retired in 2012 after serving as CEO of The National Playing Fields Association which campaigns to safeguard outdoor recreational spaces. Like her husband David she has lived in East Boldre since 2013.
David Moore-Gwyn
First practiced as a chancery barrister before joining Sothebys in 1976. He served there as Deputy Chairman UK and retired in 2015 though he remains a consultant.
He has lived in East Boldre since 2013 but has long links with the New Forest as his mother was born in Beaulieu.
Rebecca Gabzdyl
An electronic engineer with over 15 years of project and programme management experience who has been working to safeguard East Boldre's village shop since January 2019. Also a founding director of New Forest Homes for Ukraine which was set up in March 2022.
Volunteering in the shop was a great way to get to know our community and showed what an important social as well as practical amenity the shop is. I learned much about the realities of the business and COVID lockdowns showed clearly how, with ingenuity a village shop can respond very quickly in a crisis.