News

Community Businesses in Churches

Many churches are adopting community businesses – whether shops, post-offices, or cafes – to secure a sustainable future and serve their communities; to support the needs of their parish and to avoid closure.  Thanks to a joint project funded by Allchurches Trust and staffed by the Plunkett Foundation there is now advice and shared experience available to churches exploring whether this is a route for them.

Churches as Community Business Venues

The Plunkett Foundation, organised a Webinar on 7th December 2021 on the subject of Churches as Community Business Venues.  Speakers included the team from the Chalke Valley Community Shop, and Wendy Coombey from the Diocese of Hereford who spoke about how they encourage churches to engage with their communities through community businesses and social activities.  FODC trustee and former Chairman, John Symes, was also invited to speak about our experience in building the Community Hub in Droxford, and starting up the very successful Wilfrid’s Cafe,  .  The Webinar was recorded and the recording is now available here.

Please feel free to share this recording with anyone else who might be interested.