Committee News - May 2026

The ES&M committee met for their usual monthly meeting recently. As the chairman was away several items were deferred until his return but there was hopeful news from the treasurer who informed us that from a situation in which there were rather worrying losses, the business has reduced these significantly and a draft business plan for next year includes a return to profit.

This is particularly uplifting for those who value so highly the many community benefits that ES&M brings in terms of social contact, support, advice, shared interests, and yes – the opportunity to enjoy occasionally local gossip…

Sarah is doing her utmost to keep prices as low as possible even in these challenging economic times. Thankfully we are not under pressure to return large profits for shareholders but of course we have to be able to survive on more than goodwill and optimism.

Speaking of goodwill, it can never be stated often enough, or emphatically enough how much we value the contributions made by our brilliant volunteers, both on and off the shop floor.

The shop and café have enjoyed a brisk and busy Spring and in the café it was agreed to continue to offer monthly full English breakfasts as these remain popular, and, certainly in the view of this writer, are delicious. They will run on the last Saturday of every month for the foreseeable future. From next week we will also be offering ice cream sundaes in anticipation of a hot and sunny summer – if the weather forecast is anything to go by this starts next week too, so do call in for a cool-down!

In the shop we are sorry to announce that we can no longer afford to offer a newspaper collection service to the small number of customers who were using it. Delivery from the newsagent was costing us around £1000 per year, and with most customers using vouchers to pay for their papers, the loss was not compensated for in any way. Papers were sometimes collected from outside the shop meaning that any incidental trade was also lost so with regret we are withdrawing this service.

The Hub team have worked hard to promote it as a venue for a wide variety of events and now has regular weekly and monthly bookings as well as one-off functions such as birthday parties and special interest groups and club meetings and events. There are plans afoot for a ‘Stay & Play’ session on a Saturday, also a youngster-friendly version of Dungeons & Dragons sessions – details TBA. We still have space for regular bookings on Monday afternoon, Tuesday morning, Thursday all day, Friday afternoons, as well as some evenings and weekends so please do consider us as a venue for any event or activity you may be planning.

Fundraising events are aimed at improving the environment in the building and for enhancing offerings from all three parts of ES&M. Discussions are currently ongoing with regard to low-level music being played particularly when the shop/café are quiet. The committee agreed that when busy, music can be intrusive leading to louder conversations and making things difficult for those hard of hearing so there is undoubtedly a balance to be struck. If you have a view or opinion on this and are willing to share it, please do get in touch in whatever way works for you.

With the recent announcement regarding a regretful delay to the return of the village magazine, there is good reason to call in and catch up with the latest goings-on. We look forward to seeing you soon at ES&M, where you can be sure of a warm welcome whether to the shop, café or Hub.