The lease for the site of the new community shop in Harrowbarrow has been signed.

The land at the village hall will be home to the new community shop is being planned to replace the post office in the centre of the village.

Community Shop committee chairperson Karen Bennett: “This is fabulous news and means we can apply for more grant applications, along with our planning application which we hope will be done by the end of the month.”

Calstock Parish Council has continued to be supportive of our project, and the committee announced they had committed £7,000 to the project. “Some of that is as shares,” said Karen, “which means they have an ongoing commitment to us which is fabulous.

“They were very impressed with our business plan and pitch, so the hard work of the committee is paying off!”

She continued: “We have also had some other grants come in, and some more pledges, which takes our current combined total up to £28,000.

“This is just phenomenal,” Karen adds, “and we could not do this without you, our supporters, but we cannot stop now. We need more money.”

With plans to open in August, the race is on to secure the additional funding needed with upcoming fundraising events including an auction of promises.

Some of the lots coming under the hammer include an introduction to gliding at Dartmoor Gliding Society based at Brentor with two accompanied flights with an instructor, dog boarding for a stay of two nights for two dogs, and even a round of golf at St Mellion.

Promises have come in from far and wide, with a ‘behind the scenes’ tour of Copperfish Distillery in Looe with a tasting session. “We also have a free night in an apartment in Portugal, this is a free night when you make a longer booking, but it makes a nice promise,” said Karen.

All the promises will be auctioned off on Saturday March 1 at 8pm at the Carpenters Arms in Harrowbarrow to the highest bidder. Catalogues with all the auction promises will be available on the night or beforehand from the pub, and the village shop.

Karen said: “We are hoping to raise upwards of £500 from the evening. We would like to say thank you to all our promise donors. Without their kind offers this event would not happen.

“The project hopes to open the new shop by the 1st of August; currently we have a bare strip of grass so there is a lot to achieve!

“This event and our others are really pulling the community together and making the shop a reality.”

Shares in the shop are planned to go live on February 1, and pledges or donations can be made at: www.https://harrowbarrow-and-metherell-community-shop.sumupstore.com/. Notify the committee to turn donations into shares at by emailing: [email protected].

More fundraising events are planned in the coming months with tickets available at the Post Office or an online at: www.harrowbarrow-and-metherell-community-shop.com