New Galloway Community Enterprises Ltd is a Community Benefit company owned by the New Galloway community and set up to trade for their benefit.

It is hoping to source Big Lottery grant funding to buy Hopkins shop in New Galloway – the last remaining grocery shop in the village – and convert it into a Community Shop.

The Community Shop will provide good value, high quality food for New Galloway residents, with a strong emphasis on community support and local food.

The six-bedroom house above the shop will be converted into two self-catering apartments for letting to the tourist market. This will generate further income which can be invested back into New Galloway’s other charitable needs.

It is also planned to make the shop into a social well-being hub, to further support the community. From the large back-office, an Enterprise Manager will offer a sign-posting service to let people find the right help at times of life upheaval, host benefit-maximisation surgeries to ensure people are getting what they are entitled to, and administer fuel buying co-operatives to save people money on fuel bills.

The long term aim is for New Galloway to be a self-sustaining village with its own income and strong community support for all of its residents.

In late February 2016, the NGCE team learned that they had been successful in applying for Development grant funding for the project. This grant allowed them to take on a number of professional consultants to create the very detailed and lengthy second stage bid submission. This second stage bid will be submitted in July 2016 and if successful will result in the full amount required to buy and renovate the house and shop, plus some operating costs, being granted in November 2016.

The professional team are

1. Helen Keron (New Galloway) – Project Manager
2. Creetown Initiatives – Development Consultants
3. Marc Henkelmann (Kirkcudbright) – Architect
4. Sarah Ade (Dalry) – Communications Assistant
5. Andrew Crossan (Dumfries) – Quantity Surveyor