Plunkett UK

We are excited to be one of 10 Oxfordshire-based charities that will benefit from a Christmas party with a difference this year!🎄☃️ Raise'24, a new festive fundraiser organised by the B4 business network group, will inspire Oxfordshire businesses to form up to 75 teams to raise money for local charities!  For Plunkett, recieving this Christmas bonus means we will be able to help even more rural communities in Oxfordshire and the UK in 2025 & beyond, to save their local assests from the risk of permanent closure, and turn them into the businesses they own and run! 🤩 During the festive period, businesses often go the extra mile to support the most vulnerable in the community with services like Christmas home deliveries! 🎁 To find out more about this event, and how to get involved, check out our latest news piece!  ➡️https://lnkd.in/dPq8WUFt

Community Businesses Going Green! 🌿 At Plunkett UK, we champion community-owned businesses that create positive environmental impacts, encouraging a strong committment to combatting climate change through sustainable initiatives. The growing impact of a growing movement! 📈🤩 #combiz have shown fine examples of climate action, such as... 🌳Cleve Archers in South Gloucestershire developed an energy-efficient, eco-friendly sports venue. They installed solar panels on the clubhouse and planted a variety of trees, shrubs and meadowland to encourage local wildlife. 🚲Applecross Community Company, serving the remote Applecross peninsula in the Northwest Highlands, launched the Active Applecross Project in 2019. This initiative promotes active transportation with ten community electric bikes, supported by Cycling Scotland and The Energy Saving Trust.  These community-owned businesses are only a few examples of a bigger movement who are making sustainable living more affordable and accessible for all! 🙌 You can find out more about how community businesses Going Green from this blog ➡️ https://lnkd.in/ejm3nGir What does your community do to lessen its impact on the environment? 🤔

Meet the finalists for the Keeping it Local Award! 🏆 Kindly sponsored by the Co-op this award celebrates how #combiz are supporting the local economy by utilising local supplies & services. 💼 Our finalists are... 🌟Smarden Community Store, whose ethos is to support as many local suppliers as possible! Local sources account for 40% of total sales with over 20 local suppliers across a variety of produce. 🌟Huby & Sutton Community Shop who during its transformation used a local architect, builders, electricians and shop fitters, plus over 50 volunteers worked tirelessley in the shop whilst the work went on around them!  🌟Bledington Community Shop & Café, whose focus has always been on ‘keeping it local’ and currently 76% of suppliers are from the local area. Also, the shop has created its own products & branding, including gins, ales, whisky, mugs, cushions, aprons and tea towels.  We can't wait to celebrate with you at our #rcbawards next week!  Find out more about our finalists here 👇https://lnkd.in/e5zjBdPf

Co-op Party Live: Delivering Community Ownership Locally This evening - Wednesday 16th Oct, 6pm, online, Co-operative Party With Chris Cowcher, Plunkett UK and #SaveBirmingham 's Jeevan Jones The session aims to help members and Labour & Co-op councillors find out more about how they can use community ownership to shape their local economy, town centre and high street. Register 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eK8FSmy9

Two exclusive wholesale deals for Plunkett members! 🤩   We are delighted to announce that Cotswold Fayre | B Corp are offering an exclusive discount on premium food & drink products to all Plunkett UK members! 🤝We have also partnered with Youings Wholesale who can offer a delivered stock service across mainland UK to all Plunkett member shops – all your branded basics delivered to your door.   Youings is a long-established, family-owned wholesaler which already supplies over 70 community-owned shops.  If you are a Plunkett UK member, head to the membership hub where you can find out more about both of these deals!   Not a Plunkett UK member? Our membership hub provides a wide array of information, guides, and deals that will benefit your community business! So become a member today!  Head to the following link to find out more👉 https://lnkd.in/eTcBu4D

Handcrafted Projects focuses on helping those affected by domestic abuse, prison leavers, young asylum seekers, and care leavers. They used #SocialInvestment from Key Fund to help them to purchase new buildings, and reach even more people with the brilliant impact they deliver.  “Key Fund came and met with us, talked with us, and got to understand the organisation and our needs. They took the time to understand our model and our approach and were able to work with us where banks normally wouldn’t. We don’t have a for-profit business model that a bank could easily understand, but a social investor like Key Fund can get behind it.” Learn more about their experiences with repayable finance via @Good Finance UK > https://lnkd.in/eEHyCDpk

Hear from Harriet English our Head of Engagement, who encourages you to not miss out on getting your ticket for our #ncbconf!   Kindly sponsored by Webmart, next week we will all get together for the UK’s only face-to-face conference for community businesses. With an exciting and packed agenda, it promises to deliver the very best insights and practical advice for community businesses. 📈🤩 So be quick! Don't miss out on securing your ticket, sales end at MIDNIGHT TONIGHT! 🚨 Grab it here 👇 https://lnkd.in/eJ6JfszQ

🚨Last chance to get your ticket!🚨 Don't miss out on the UK's only in-person Conference for community businesses!  Be quick! Grab your ticket before MIDNIGHT tonight to secure your place➡️https://lnkd.in/eJ6JfszQ #combiztogether #ncbconf

A HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who came along to our Charity auction fundraiser last Thursday at Cokethorpe School hosted by auctioneer extraordinaire, Charlie Ross.  ⭐ Thank you to all our generous auction lot donors ⭐ Thank you to Stroud Brewery - a certified B Corporation, Co-op, The Oxford Wine Company, Bensons The Juicers and Grape Minds in Oxford, for their kind contributions towards our drinks reception ⭐ Thank you to the team at Cokethorpe School for allowing us the use of their wonderful venue  ⭐ Thank you to Cyrus Mower for all the wonderful photographs ⭐ Thanks to the Oxford Gospel Choir for entertaining our guests  ⭐ And a huge thanks to Wise Investment for so generously sponsoring the event We raised over £14,000 and none of that would have been possible without the kindness and generosity of everyone who supported the evening! This support will enable us to continue being there for rural communities who are striving to create places and spaces that are the epitome of community spirit.  Read our latest news piece to find out more about the evening 👉https://lnkd.in/eKpE2pF5

Listen to this snippet between Plunkett's Harriet English & Tristan W Robinson, Director of External Affairs and Social Value at Thakeham, where they discuss what #combiz mean for the local community! 🙌 Enjoy a selection of photographs by photgrapher, Andrew Ogilvy, from the opening of Woodgate Community Shop - a pioneering community-owned shop, placed at the heart of Thakeham’s Woodgate development near Pease Pottage in West Sussex.  Click the link to listen to the full podcast 👇https://lnkd.in/d523W6MH