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Owned and operated by East Boldre Community Stores Limited, Community Benefit Society
EBCS Management Committee
Public Meetings
Public meetings were held 8th (Zoom) and 11th July (Village Hall).
If you missed them you can view slideset here
Rebecca Gabzdyl
An electronic engineer with over 15 years of programme management experience who has been working to safeguard East Boldre's village shop since January 2019. With Mike Hawker, she founded East Boldre Community Stores in Oct 2020.
Volunteering in the existing shop for 2 years was a great way to get to know and really feel part of 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.
Mike Hawker
Mike joined our shop project in October 2020 and has 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.
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. Alison has lived in East Boldre since 2013 and joined our team in 2022.
Simon Ricketts
Simon has worked in data analytics and e-commerce for over two decades, starting his career locally with B&Q (building their first transactional website) then spending 15 years in London working with a number of global retail and media brands. He has lived in East Boldre for nearly four years and is super excited to be part of this project. He is looking forward to seeing Chapel Stores become an essential part of community life here in the village. He joined our team in November 2023
Judith Richardson
Judith has significant experience of administrative roles from her professional career in the retail and finance industries and later working for the NHS.
Keen to get involved and make a contribution to the community, becoming part of the Hapel Stores Shop team was a perfect opportunity and she is passionate that we continue to have this great asset in our village. Judith is also researching the Chapel's history and the important part it has played in village life since 1810. She joined the shop team in 2021.
Malvena Stuart Taylor
Malvena was a Consultant anaesthetist at Southampton, retiring from clinical practice in 2019. She completed a Masters in Coaching & Mentoring at Oxford Brookes in 2015. Malvena moved from Awbridge, Romsey to East Boldre in early 2021 and was immediately impressed by the support and community buzz. She felt she would like to give back to the community skills and energy in the development of Chapel Stores and joined the team in November 2023.
Nick Thompson (Chair)
Nick sadly passed away on Saturday 3rd February, just over two weeks before the shop opened. He was a kind, courageous and dignified gentleman with a great sense of humour. Nick will be greatly missed as a friend, colleague and great supporter of “Chapel Stores”. His one regret was not to see the shop though to completion, a measure of his commitment and contribution to our endeavours. Our thoughts are with his wife Sarah and all their family.
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