Village Shop & Tea Room Compton in the News
Sale of Limited Edition Prints: November 2011
From Saturday 12 November you will be able to purchase original linocut prints of eight Downland churches which make up the Octagon Group of churches:
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The prints are the work of Jesssica Maier and are also available as postcards. Both prints and postcards will be on sale until Christmas. A proportion of the profits from the sale of these prints and postcards will be given to the Octagon Youth Group.
Download a poster advertising the sale of limited edition prints from The Village Shop and Tea Room Compton.
Compton Features in Sussex Walking Festival: October 2011
The West Sussex Walking Festival takes place over the three days Friday 7th, Saturday 8th and Sunday 9th of October and participants are invited to choose from five walks each day. Walks are grades as follows:
- easy, flat walking
- country walking with gentle hills
- one or two sharper hills
- several steep and longer hills
Compton features in Walk 1 on Friday 7th October, with a lunch stop in Compton - you will find a warm welcome and a wide range of refreshments available in the Village Shop and Tearooms!
If you are interested in joining this walk - or any of the other walks click here to download a Registration Form from the West Sussex Walking Festival web site.
Village Shop & Tea Room Compton Celebrates Second Birthday: 3 April 2011
The Shop and Tearoom celebrated its Second Birthday in April and was featured in the Spring edition of Taste West Sussex
Listings in West Sussex web sites: Spring 2011
As the excellent reputation of the Shop and Tearoom spreads it appears in local web sites:
Visit Chichester: The shop and tearoom are listed in the "What to See and Do" section of the VisitChichester web site.
Chichester District Council: Details of the shop are listed in the "Find my Nearest Shop" section of the www.chichester.gov.uk web site. This listing also includes a note on the origin of the name Compton: The name Compton comes from a Saxon word 'cumb', which means valley. 'Cumb tun' is a valley farm.
Jane attends a Retailing Masterclass: January 2011
The Village Shop & Tea Room, Compton, in the South Downs National Park near Uppark, opened in April 2009 to the delight of the village and local parish.
In their first year they were nominated for, and won, a prestigious ‘Rural Oscar’ from the Countryside Alliance for best village shop in the south-east. Co-owner Robin Bray said “I think locals voted for us because they could see our commitment to the community.” He also told us “Since the award, the village has been snowed in twice but our amazing staff have trudged in and kept the shop and tea room going and a couple of local friends lent their 4x4 vehicles so that we could collect fresh milk, bread, fruit and veg and even newspapers.”
This week co-owner Jane Rebeiro is in central London at a three-day retailing masterclass with Mary Portas, ‘Queen of Shops’ at The National Skills Academy for Retail. She gained a scholarship place by successfully completing an in-depth questionnaire and a telephone interview with two members of the selection panel. Jane said “They asked searching but pertinent questions and I had to think pretty fast. I was stunned when I received the news that I had been selected. I believe the cost of the course would be around £2,000.” She continued, “Robin and I went into this business with no retail or catering experience. The Village Shop & Tea Room has thrived because we correctly identified a need but there is still so much to learn, and it makes sense to learn from the best.”
The Village Shop and Telegraph Shop Awards 2010
The Daily Telegraph would like you to vote for your favourite small shops in Britain – independent fashion boutiques, bookshops, beauty emporiums, interiors shops, garden centres, delis and even corner shops - and this includes Village Shops; retailers that are holding their own against the big chains and supermarkets, and keeping our high streets alive.
The three shops in each category with the most votes will for a shortlist, from which a panel of Telegraph experts will select a winner. Voting closes at midnight on 10th December 2010. The winning shops will be announced in the Telegraph Magazine and at telegraph.co.uk in February 2011.
If you would like to vote for The Villages Shop and Tearoom, Compton click on the logo above or click here to cast your vote in the Telegraph Shop Awards 2010 - you'll need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to find the Best Corner Shop section.
Click here to download and print a poster to advertise the Award.
Chichester Triathalon Passes through Compton: July 2010
The Chichester Triathalon is on Sunday 18th July and the cycle route once again passes through Compton. There are about 400 competitors.
The Triathalon Consists of 600m pool swim in Westgate Leisure Centre Pool, followed by a 42km challenging bike ride out to South Harting and back through Compton and Funtington and finishing with a 10km out and back run finishing on Chichester College front field.
There are several categories:
- Male Senior and Female Senior
- 1st Male Junior (U19)
- 1st Female Junior (U19)
- 1st Male Vet (40, 45, 50 and 55)
- 1st Female Vet (40, 45, 50 and 55)
- 1st Team
- 1st Mixed Team (minimum age 16)
See the full details on the Chichester District Council web site
Countryside Alliance Award: The Finals, February 2010
We were delighted to be nominated for the Countryside Alliance 'Rural Oscars' in the category 'Best Village Shop / Post Office because it wasn't something we applied for, we were nominated by local customers. Having only been open since April 2009, it was a fantastic surprise to win the Award for the South East Region. The national winner is a co-operative that has been in existence and expanding for six years - so we have something to aim for!
We enjoyed the reception at The House of Lords, rubbing shoulders with the powerful and famous, but the greatest thrill was coming back to the shop and finding what seemed like the entire village in the shop waiting for us with champagne for an impromptu party. It was fantastic to know that we are a valued part of this amazing community.
Compton Village Shop and Tea Room wins Award: January 2010
We have won the award for the south-east region for best village shop! Twelve top local businesses, including the Compton Village Shop and Tea Room, were nominated for one of four Countryside Alliance regional titles and the chance of UK-wide acclaim.
The national judging panel, chaired by Countryside Alliance Chief Executive Simon Hart, will now meet to select the overall winners of the 2009 Awards. These winners, alongside the winners of the Rural Hero, Westminster and Grassroots Awards, will then be announced at a Parliamentary reception in London on 3 February 2010. We shall be there!
The Countryside Alliance Awards, now in their fifth year, celebrate the characters, skills, traditions and enterprise of the countryside through the people who work so hard to make it tick. Each finalist has received numerous nominations from adoring customers and supporters.
Thanks to all our customers and supporters who kindly nominated us for this award!
See the full details on the Countryside Alliance web site.
Compton Parish Council Autumn Newsletter 2009
"For our parish, the shop and post office is a vital lifeline for many people, especially those without transport, it is an important connection with the world beyond their front door. It is a meeting place, communication centre and an important lynchpin of parish life".
These comments formed a part of a questionnaire written in June 2008 when the future of the shop was under threat.
Today, six months after its reopening, if there were any doubt as to the truth of these words a visit on any day will dispel them. Passing visitors chat with parishioners over coffee, impromptu meetings are held on school matters and tennis tournaments. Bread, milk and the other staples of daily living are purchased whilst catching up with the ebb and flow of village life. Everywhere there is friendly, relaxed interaction and informality that has been a characteristic of the "village" shop for centuries. Long may it continue!
The Rural Development Programme (RDP) Leader Funding
Leader helped reinstate the village store in Compton and convert part of the adjacent building to create a tea room. A grant was awarded after the parish council organised a series of meetings and a survey demonstrating that local residents supported the project. The shop and tea room opened in April 2009.
The Rural Development Programme is jointly funded by the EU, through the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, and the Government.
The Leader approach is a delivery mechanism under the new Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) 2007-2013. Also known as Axis 4, the Leader approach is not a scheme, fund or set of objectives, but is a method of harnessing local knowledge to enable a “bottom up”, community led approach to delivery of RDPE funding in rural areas. The Leader approach can be used to deliver a range of Programme objectives, and will help achieve integration.
Visit the Rural Development Programme Leader Funding page of the West Sussex County Council web site
taste west sussex
The Village Shop & Tea Room, Compton featured in the Autumn/Winter 2009 edition of taste west sussex - click here to see the on-line version of taste west sussex and then click on the section titled THE LOCAL STORE to read about village shops in West Sussex and the Village Shop and Tea Room in Compton.
The magazine notes that "The Village Shop & Tea Room opened earlier this year and has already become known as a shopping, meeting and eating place popular with locals, walkers and visitors.
The shop sells a wide range of local products from sausages and strawberries to bread and honey.
It also serves tea, coffee, hot chocolate, soft drinks, seasonal quiches, baps and rolls, cream teas and delicious home-baked cakes – all made with locally sourced produce where possible. These are available to eat inside, outside or to take away."
Chichester Observer 16 April 2009: Hard work pays off as Compton store reopens
Click on the link to read the article about the opening of the Village Shop & Tea Room as reported in the Chichester Observer.