Community Shop


In the early 1900's Henham had a quite a number of shops and at least four public houses. In common with many other villages in the area and indeed throughout the country, changes in mobility, work and life styles in the following century changed the nature of the village and by 1998 one shop and one public house remained.
	In May 1998, the announcement was made that our last shop in the village, a general store and post office was due to close because it was failing as a viable concern. After being completely run down from June, it finally closed its doors on 21st September 1998.
The village was faced with the decision that unless we helped ourselves, an important part of village life would disappear for good.
Today in 2009 we still have have a thriving shop run by volunteers from the Henham community but the post office part run by Bessie Hayden was forced to close on 1st July by Post Offices Ltd. despite it being highly successful. On Friday 12 December 1908 it was re-opened again thanks to an initiative by Essex County Council - See below
Whilst so far the enterprise must be considered a great success, an ongoing problem is to keep the list of volunteers at a suitable level. As to be expected, people's circumstances are constantly changing and it has proved difficult to find villagers who are willing to commit themselves to regular duty slots and to be reserves. Often, we have to rely on a small nucleus to keep the shop running during holiday times and in emergencies. On the plus side, the shop has already won two awards, viz. finalist in the Cambridge Evening News Community Challenge Awards and runner up in the Village Ventures Competition. After more than five years trading there is confidence that the shop will continue to thrive. We have repaid our original loans and in November 2001 we had sufficient funds to relay the floor. If you wish to know more, click here for an account written by Barry Tate on how the shop was saved.
Red Letter Day Henham Post Office Having been closed by Post Office Ltd on 1st July 2008, it is with great pleasure we announce that Henham Post office, part of the Henham Community shop, was officially re-opened on Friday 12th December as a result of the Essex County Council Post Office Initiative. It is to be a sub post office to the Standon branch. Bessie Hayden, our former post mistress, will be back in post (excuse the pun) three times a week from 9.00am to 12 noon, Mondays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On behalf of the village, thanks must go to Cllr Ray Gooding and Essex County Council, Henham Parish Council, the Henham Village Shop Association and in particular Chris Swain, Linda Peake and Pat Dent. Also to the Post Mistress of Standon Post Office for offering her services and to Pellys the Solicitors for giving legal advice free of charge.

	Present at the opening were our M.P. the Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, Essex County Councillor Ray Gooding, District councillor David Morson, Acting Chairman of Henham Parish Council, Nick Baker OBE and the opening ceremony was conducted by County Councillor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration on behalf of Lord Hanningfield, the Leader of Essex C.C.

Guest of Honour was Father Christmas who accepted Christmas letters from a number of children from Henham and Ugly primary school.

	Present at the opening were our M.P. the Rt. Hon. Sir Alan Haselhurst, Essex County Councillor Ray Gooding, District councillor David Morson, Acting Chairman of Henham Parish Council, Nick Baker OBE and the opening ceremony was conducted by County Councillor Stephen Castle, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Regeneration on behalf of Lord Hanningfield, the Leader of Essex C.C.

Guest of Honour was Father Christmas who accepted Christmas letters from a number of children from Henham and Ugly primary school.

	Bessie being interviewed for local radio.

Essex County Council have also installed a Community Information Point which is a wonderful touch screen computer that allows customers free of charge to access many types of information including this web site and the History of Henham web site .

One person who should be mentioned as a considerable influence on the return of the Post Office was Martin Nicholson, former Chairman of the Parish Council who sadly died a couple of weeks ago. He regularly 'leaked' the latest information on the progress of restoring the Post Office to Henham, at the same time slapping a 'D Notice' on me regarding publication of the information. He would have taken great pleasure in today's events.
Annual General Meeting of the Village Shop Association held at Thursday 7th May 2009 at 8.00pm at the Church Hall
We should be very proud that this meeting was the 10th AGM since the Community Shop was re-opened back in 1998 However, considering how much we say we value our shop once again the attendance was somewhat disappointing. The meeting was addressed by the Chairman, Chris Swain and he presented the current financial position which is quite healthy and although the turnover was not as high as last year (which had been higher than expected) it was back to 2007 levels. The closing of the Post Office for six months could have been a contributory factor.
Chris went on to praise the initiative by Essex County Council in getting the Post Office re-opened in December 2008 which had given Henham a high profile in the media for some weeks. A discussion ensued about the licensing of the shop and other connected matters and Post Office opening hours and days. There being no new volunteers, the committee was re-elected. Much thanks and appreciation was extended to all committee members, Graham the shop manager, volunteers and particularly to Linda Peake, Pat Dent and Chris Swain. They have all put in a tremendous effort on our behalf and without them we would not have a shop, particularly in the current economic climate. The following is an additional message from Chris Swain The Association is a membership organisation, though you certainly do not have to be a member to be involved in helping to keep the shop going. Back in 1998 issuing membership share certificates (at £10 a time) was one of the ways of raising the finance necessary to reopen the shop, and nearly 100 people joined at that time, but only a few subsequently. For one reason or another actual membership has fallen back a bit. Given that the shop has always managed to make a small surplus every year, the financial aspect of membership is no longer of importance. However, it is a valuable way in which we can demonstrate to everybody (including grant-making bodies) the extent of community support for the shop. Additional members are therefore most welcome. If you would like to become one please get in touch with me (at 55 Vernons Close or telephone 850573), or with any other member of the Management Committee, or with Bessie Hayden at the Post Office, and I shall be glad to ensure that you get a certificate. Christopher Swain Chairman