CLAPHAM AND PATCHING VILLAGES
Community Shop and Cafe Project
The small shop/cafe on the Recreation Ground - The Junction @ Clapham - is currently being operated on a part-time basis while the new owner, Yvette Fisher, evaluates the likely viability of the business going forward. She has an interim ground lease (a 'Tenancy at Will') from the Trustees (the landowners) for the plot on which The Junction stands.
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The hope is that, provided villagers and others demonstrate enough support for the business to be viable, it will be converted into a community-owned and community-run operation.
The existing building has temporary planning permission to continue to house a shop and cafe until the autumn of 2021; however, it is more than 20 years old, and is in urgent need of major refurbishment. The much needed renovations will start in the Spring, and offers of help will be gratefully received.
A Community Benefit Society, Clapham and Patching Community Shop and Cafe Project Ltd, was set up in 2016 (replacing the earlier, informal Project, set up in 2014). The initial intention was to raise funds for a replacement building; however, the Society decided to apply its remaining funds to the maintenance and refurbishment of the existing building, and the Society has now closed.
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