Established in 2019, Draycott Community Shop is a Community Benefit Society which is owned, funded & operated by over 60 local volunteers and shareholders within the villages of Draycott & Rodney stoke, in the heart of the Cheddar Valley. The shops uses surplus profit to help fund & support a variety of local charities & causes
The little shop with a big heart successfully installed rooftop solar panels thanks to support by Solarsense and backed by a £2,000 grant from The Naturesave Trust.
The project was made possible via the provision of the grant combined with the generous offer from renewable energy installers Solarsense, to supply the panels at a 50% reduction and Total Access Scaffolding who supplied complimentary scaffolding hire. This has enabled the community shop to install the panels quickly and without the need to fundraise, which would have been near impossible during lockdown.
Speaking after the panels were successfully installed, Tim Cook, Chairman of Draycott Community Shop Committee said “The grant we obtained from The Naturesave Trust was invaluable to the project. When we first went about taking over the shop, as well as benefitting the community it was incredibly important for it to be as eco-friendly as possible. The panels will generate about 25% of our annual electricity needs, saving approximately one tonne of co2 each year. This is roughly the same as one broadleaf tree in its 100 year lifetime! It will save us around £500 per year from our energy bill, meaning we can use this money to benefit the community in other ways.”