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BRECHFA COMMUNITY SHOP AND POST OFFICE

Update. Brechfa Post Office Closure, January 2009

The Post Office has announced the decision to close Brechfa Post office and replace it with an outreach service. From Friday 9th January 2009 the Post Office Counter in the Brechfa Shop will cease trading. A mobile Post Office service will start on Monday 12th January operated from a van parked by Brechfa Church Hall on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from 12.15 to 1.30pm.

Bryn Stores Community Shop will still provide most of the Brechfa Post Office related services but in a different, independant way.

History

In 2004 Bryn Stores in the centre of Brechfa Village (B4310) faced closure. The community got together and the owners handed the shop to the community after finding they could not afford to keep it running any longer.

After much hard work by the Community a grant was obtained which enabled the shop to be rewired, refitted, a new sub Post Office opened and new stock to be bought. Run by a team of around 40 volunteers, the shop provides a focal point for the village. It is the key to local communications, advertises events, helps assimilate newcomers into the community and develops the skills and confidence of volunteers. Everyone involved, very deservedly, takes pride in the achievements of their shop, the way it now looks and the comprehensive range of items on offer at reasonable prices.

Since opening as a community shop it has has gone from strength to strength culmulating in a hard earned award, Winner, Carmarthenshire Community Awards 2005.

The award was presented at the first ever Community Grants Awards at the glittering Stradey Park Hotel in April 2005 to celebrate work carried out by community groups with financial help from the Rural Services and Thematic Programme (RSTP).

Masters of ceremony, BBC Jason Mohammad and S4C Heledd Cynwal, announced the winners, chosen through a strict scoring system by a judging panel. Brechfa Community Shop became the overall winning project.

David Groom, on behalf of the Brechfa community said: I am totally surprised we have won this award. It was initially really hard work to get things going. It took a lot of drive to keep plodding on but now the shop drives itself".

You have to take a gamble in life, we did and look at the result. We could not have done it without dedication from the community and without money from RSTP.

	Community Shop	Post Office

Dydd Llun / Monday	7.00am - 6pm	9.00am - 1pm
Dydd Mawrth / Tuesday	7.00am - 6pm	9am - 12 midday
Dydd Mercher / Wednesday	7.00am - 6pm	Ar Gau / Closed
Dydd Iau / Thursday	7.00am - 6pm	9.00am - 1pm
Dydd Gwener / Friday	7.00am - 6pm	Ar Gau / Closed
Dydd Sadwrn / Saturday	7.00am - 1pm	9am - 12 midday

History, Commendations and Passing Comments

Video Interview with David Groom from Brechfa Community Shop
Carmarthen Connect. CAVS AGM Question Time November 2007.

Social Enterprise visit

Representatives from Pembrokeshire Communities visit Bryn Community Shop.

Photo library Wales

Early photograph of Brechfa Community shop, then known as Bryn Stores Shop.

News article March 21st 2003

Last shop in four villages is facing closure unless community rallies.

rivercottage.net Forum posting:-

I live in rural Wales too. OK, all you folk in towns, with computers to download "stamps" from, on good bus routes, with a car - how about the people - especially the older people - who DON'T have all these commodities? The Post Office to them is a lifeline. I think in many cases it's about seeing people too.

Outside of the village, farmsteads and houses tend to be well spread out - you might not see another soul for days on end. Our nearest "local" shops are 4 or 5 miles away. Townships are 10 miles off.

Our local Post Office at Brechfa is now part of a locally-run co-operative shop, stocking a good range of groceries including an excellent whole-food range and Ecover products. (No, I'm not an agent!) I can order 16kg bags of organic flour via them, and I don't doubt many other pulses etc too. It is manned by villagers on a voluntary basis. Perhaps other village PO's might survive in a similar way?

howies Forum posting:-

The gang camped last night near Freshwater and then they headed East this morning. They have just filled the van up with biodiesel from a community shop near Brechfa and now they are on the way to Porthcawl. Apparently the sun is blazing. Back here in Cardigan it has clouded over and thunder is rumbling ...

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