You are being invited to become a Member and contribute financially to maintain and develop a community resource. Your dividend will be a social one rather than one resulting in any financial gain.

The shop is be run by volunteers and by paid staff, employed on the Society's behalf. The Society is run by the Management Committee which is re-elected each year by your vote at the AGM.

Ermington and the surrounding community do. Ermington Store & More is a vital village amenity which you will help to sustain. It is run by a democratic, not-for-profit organisation called a Community Benefit Society. Embedded in its Rules is the principle that the Society's surpluses will be available for distribution to other community projects.

Your liability is limited to the value of your shares.

As a shareholder you are also a Member of the Society. In a Community Benefit Society, the rule is One Member – One Vote. No matter how large or small your shareholding, you have an equal voice. If shares are bought by an organisation including a company, then a representative will have to be appointed to vote on matters concerning the Society.

The minimum share is £20, and the maximum amount that can be invested by an individual in the Society is £1,500. The minimum age for members is 16.

Shares can go down in value but they cannot increase in value above their original price.

The Management Committee will keep a share register separate to the members' register. Members are entitled to request a view of the members' register, however this is not to be encouraged. We anticipate that the great majority of shareholders will respect that others may not wish their shareholding to be general knowledge

The Management Committee has stipulated a minimum of one year before you can apply to withdraw any share. Three months' notice for withdrawals is required and withdrawal will be at the discretion of the Management Committee.

If there remain, after the satisfaction of all its debts and liabilities and the repayment of the paid-up share capital, any assets whatsoever, such assets shall be transferred to one or more community organisations that support the objects of the Society chosen by the Members at a Members’ Meeting. Under our Rules, a statutory asset lock ensures that any remaining assets of the society have to be handed over to a “similar not-for-profit or community benefit society" (see society Rules 7.5 to 7.9)

In the event of the death of a member, the repaid value of the shares will normally be added to the estate for probate purposes. You may (if you wish) elect to nominate a recipient for the value of the shares and thus remove shares from your estate for probate purposes (i.e. the shares may pass to the nominee outside the Will of the deceased). Our rules allow shares to be transferred on a death or they can be withdrawn, but only if the Society can afford to do so.

The sale of community shares is not regulated by the Financial Services Authority because investors are deemed to be investing for social returns, not for financial gain. There is no right of complaint to the Financial Ombudsman, nor can you apply to the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Investment cannot be viewed in the same way as an investment in a building society or a bank, where currently the first £85,000 is protected. Potentially you can lose everything you invest in a community share offer.

If you are in any doubt about investing in the share offer, you should seek further financial advice

If you can't, please don't invest!