Our community has benefited from a village shop and, before that, a bakery on the present site for more than 200 years. The village risked losing this valuable asset when the owners sought to retire. Volunteers rallied round to set up a company to lease the shop and, after a short closure, for refurbishment it re-opened for business in March 2014.
Opening hours
Our priority is the safety of our customers, volunteers, staff and the wider community. Please be patient with the shop team as it continues to adapt its service to the current situation. Our normal opening hours are:
| Sunday | 8:00am to 1:00pm |
| Monday | 8:00am to 5:30pm |
| Tuesday | 8:00am to 1:00pm |
| Wednesday | 8:00am to 5:30pm |
| Thursday | 8:00am to 5:30pm |
| Friday | 8:00am to 5:30pm |
| Saturday | 8:00am to 4:00pm |
Note on opening hours
We endeavour to provide a full service and maintain our normal opening hours. Unfortunately, self-isolation requirements and other unforeseen issues may sometimes require the temporary suspension of services. If you can spare some time to help keep us open, please drop us a line on 01953 483855 or speak to any of our friendly team.
Our Location
We're located at 52 The Street, Rockland All Saints, Attleborough, Norfolk NR17 1TP. You can call the shop on 01953 483855 or the post office on 01953 483217. Our location is marked on the map, below.
Our supporters
We are very grateful to all our supporters, particularly our customers and those organisations listed at the bottom of this page. The shop is managed on a day to day basis by our delightful managers, presently funded by a hard-earned grant from the Big Lottery, which will support staff wages over the next five years. We are also incredibly grateful to our hard-working volunteers.
The Community Benefit Society
The Rocklands Community Shop Limited is a Community Benefit Society (CBS), registered with the Financial Conduct Authority under the Co-operative and Community Benefit Societies Act 2014. We have received invaluable mentorship from The Plunkett Foundation, which has helped establish over 300 community shops, and we have used their Model Rules as the basis for our society’s rules.
A CBS is a not-for-profit society, managed by the community for the benefit of the community, not just its members. Enshrined in our rules is the principle that trading surpluses, beyond those required for the needs of the business, will be distributed to community projects, as voted on by the membership.
The 2024/2025 Management Committee comprises: David Seaton (Chair), Philip Dingle (Vice Chair), David McNeil (Company Secretary), Andrew Russell (Treasurer), Cath Jones (Minutes & Membership Secretary), Victoria McArthur, Tim Ford and Ian Harrison.
Please click here to downloaded a copy of our Mission Statement and Values.
Please click here to downloaded a copy of our Share Withdrawal Policy Policy and Application Form.
Volunteering at the shop
The Shop is managed on a day to day basis by our delightful managers, whose wages are supported by the Big Lottery Fund. We are usually only able to afford a single member of staff to be on hand at any one time, so staff are ably supported by volunteers.
Volunteers are the lifeblood of the shop; without them the shop would close. We're very grateful for everything that they do, the valuable time they give up and for giving the strong sense of community ownership that makes Rocklands Community Shop such a great place to be.
We are always looking for volunteers, some people need to take time off for various reasons, or move away, if you have a bit of spare time please consider volunteering.
We run a shift timetable and this is available to sign up to in the shop. It does not matter if you want to do a regular slot every week, or can only fit a shift in now and then, we welcome all. We run regular training sessions and suggest that new volunteers sign up to the volunteer agreement , fill in a DBS form, and spend a couple of shifts shadowing a more experienced person, before they attempt a solo flight.
Please click here to downloaded a copy of our Volunteer Policy and Agreement.
Our social goals
The aim of Rocklands Community Shop is to provide essential groceries and services to the local community and to many of the communities nearby that have lost their shops.
The loss of village shops is a critical cause of the decline of rural communities. Closing a village shop can have a negative effect on the community, most notably its elderly but also other vulnerable members. Preserving the shop benefits the whole village: maintaining the Post Office function; realising its potential as a community hub; offering improved services; employment and volunteer opportunities for villagers; information and activities and an invaluable social support systems.
A shop provides so much more than simply groceries and services, and in particular a community venture such as RCSL can unite and strengthen community ties for the long term benefit of the locality and its inhabitants.
Funding support
We are very grateful to all our supporters, including Plunkett UK, The Prince's Countryside Fund and the Big Lottery Fund.
