Archie Wins National Young Person Award

3/7/2025

16 year old Archie Kitcher has been crowned the winner of the Young Person Award at the 2025 Plunkett UK Rural Community Business Awards. Winners were nominated from the 800 community businesses across the UK.

Archie has volunteered at Chapel Stores since May 2023 when he joined a team of 60 local volunteers who helped to strip out the Baptist chapel ahead of building works to create Chapel Stores.

He was one of the first volunteers to sign up at our shop when it opened and has helped with cleaning, date checking and food preparation, having gained the relevant food safety qualification. 

Archie has also helped the Chapel Story heritage project by cleaning gravestones and helping to preseent the project’s findings to the local community.

Last December Archie single handedly conceived and organised East Boldre’s first ever Christmas show. This craft and baking competition saw entries from across the community and raised over £1000 for Oakhaven Hospice.

Archie commented, “I was surprised when Rebecca Gabzdyl nominated me for the Young Person award and even more surprised to win! I'd like to thank all the local residents who voted for me. I started volunteering with the team at Chapel Stores as part of my Duke of Edinburgh award. It is great our community run village shop provides volunteering opportunities for local young people right on their doorstep.“

Mike Hawker, our chairman, commented, “Well done Archie, we are very proud to have you as a member of our valued team of volunteers and you are a role model to other local young people. We hope your success encourages more young volunteers to join us.”

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For more information about the Awards go to https://plunkett.co.uk/rural-community-business-awards.

Chapel Stores on the BBC

2/2/25

A BBC crew visited Chapel Stores due to the government's recent decision to axe the Community Ownership Fund (COF). They were keen to see the impact of the funding.

The £704,000 Chapel Stores project was enabled by a £299,500 grant from the Government's Community Ownership Fund. Without this our project could not have been achieved as there are limited source of funding for such projects.

Mike Hawker, our chairman, was interviewed to understand the potential impact on future community initiatives like ours. Watch the feature here.

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Watch out for Lady Montagu's very timely visit to the Post Office 😊 

National Community Contribution Award

23/10/24

We are delighted that Rebecca Gabzdyl won the National Community Contribution Award. ​She worked tirelessly for 6 years spearheading the project to establish a community shop and Post Office in the village (business plan, found viable premises, planning permission, funding and project management. The associated £250 prize will be used to benefit Chapel Stores. ​

Sustainability Champion Award

1/8/24

We are so pleased that our efforts to make Chapel Stores environmentally sustainable have been recognised by the New Forest National Park Authority. Rebecca, the driving force behind the Chapel Stores project and its sustainability ethos, was the winner of the NPA's Sustainability Champion award which was presented at the New Forest show.

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The shop, recently converted from a Chapel, uses energy-efficient chillers, air source heating, salvaged materials and LED lighting. Solar panels with battery storage halve electricity bills. The shop is stocked with local produce reducing food miles and is within walking and cycling distance to people in the community. 50 native trees and shrubs have been planted to improve the site's biodiversity.

The judges called East Boldre Community Stores ‘a shining example of what it means to be sustainable’.

Marmalade Competition Results

25/2/25

And the winner is....

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Congratulations to Nic Slawson who is our first marmalade champion.

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Jeremy Bennett kindly took the time to judge the 23 entries which raised £96 towards the village hall appeal.

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Well done to all those who took part.

Home Made Treats in Store

1/2/25

Following recent inspections of their kitchens by New Forest District Council, three dedicated volunteers have been approved to bake fabulous cakes for the Vestry Cafe @Chapel Stores (Thursday's 2 - 4pm) and for sale by the slice in store.

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Maureen Medley. Bev Hawker and Lynn Paul diligently cleaned their kitchens ahead of the inspections. Bev commented "The inspector offered friendly advice and it was an easy process. I was very disappointed he did not want to check my kitchen cupboards but, after my cleaning efforts, I forced him to".

Royal Visit to Chapel Stores

2/10/24

His Royal Highness the Duke of Gloucester, visited Chapel Stores to recognise and celebrate the huge community effort it has taken over the last six years to establish the community shop and Post Office in East Boldre.

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His Royal Highness congratulated everyone involved. He commented on the importance of such local projects in building community cohesion and retaining local services..

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HRH The Duke of Gloucester chatting to Val Lomax.

Shop Opening

26/02/24

Thank you to the hundreds of people braved the cold to celebrate the opening of Chapel Stores, the culmination of our 6 year, £705,000 project. Our aim is for Chapel Stores to become a vibrant hub in the community.

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The shop was opened by John Illsley, former Dire Straits guitarist who congratulated everyone involved and described the shop as a 'good news story and fantastic achievement'.​

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Sadly our former chair, Nick Thompson, died a few weeks before we opened and while we are looking to the future as we open Chapel Stores, he was in our hearts and minds.