A PACKED meeting at Kennerleigh Village Hall last Friday learned that 120 individuals have already come forward to pledge £31,000 to support the local campaign to buy the shop with a community- owned society.A campaign group seeking to keep the shop open is aiming to raise an initial £50,000 for the purchase and initial outgoings of the business and a further £25,000 to underwrite the fi rst three years' trading of the shop and Post Offi ce. This is the necessary funding needed to assure the purchase and future running of this vital community asset, the only shop and Post Offi ce in the remote location. Mid Devon District Councillor Michael Lee, who lives nearby at Dowrich, said, after the meeting, that this running total was "hugely encouraging" for such a sparse rural community area, which covers neighbouring parishes of Woolfardisworthy with Black Dog, Washford Pyne, Thelbridge and Puddington, as well as further afi eld. A Shares Prospectus is currently being prepared by local resident and solicitor, Adrian Miller ready for distribution shortly and in the meantime the message from the campaign group is "keep the pledges coming in!" Community Shares are £50 each and the public is invited to buy as many as they like up to the value of £25,000. You can get a copy of the prospectus by contacting Mike Kirby on 01363 866137 or by emailing: kennerleighshop@gmail. com . Regular updates will be posted on the village notice board and on the road throughout the village. A website and Facebook page are under construction. Local farmer, Ed Hammond and his wife, solicitor Laura Hammond, of Woodbeare Farm, have been been involved in drawing up a business plan and preparing the legal documentation along with recent incomers to the village, Des and Debbie Pluss. They made an impassioned appeal for other interested individuals with related business expertise and experience to put their names forward for election to the management committee which will supersede the present steering group once the shares issue is completed. Mr Hammond said: "We welcome offers of talent from the business world and would value the accounting and business management experience of people from local enterprises. "This is a special opportunity to be at the heart of a vital community enterprise and to help maintain the shop and Post Offi ce at the heart of this vibrant village. "Several speakers at the meeting spoke with great feeling and warmth about why moving to the village had so appealed to them and it was the friendly, well stocked shop selling local products with the Post Offi ce offering Continued on page 3