Ruscombe & Whiteshill Village Shop

09/09/2026

28/08/2026

💐 A fond farewell to two very special volunteers

Today the Whiteshill & Ruscombe Community Shop said goodbye to two of its longest-serving and much-loved volunteers, Joyce Ballinger and Mary Dunford.

Joyce first started volunteering in 1999, just a year after the shop opened, and has clocked up an incredible 28 years of giving her time, energy and friendship to the shop. Now, having reached her ninth decade, Joyce has decided that the time has come to hang up her till apron and retire from volunteering — although thankfully she’ll still be popping in as a customer! 😊

Mary has also been a much-appreciated volunteer over many years, particularly in the café, where she has cooked up countless full English breakfasts and made enough pots of tea to keep the whole village going! ☕🍳

And there’s good news for jam lovers — Mary’s legendary homemade jams will still be available to buy in the shop. 🍓

The Committee, staff and customers would like to wish Joyce and Mary a very happy and well-deserved retirement and say a huge thank you for their tireless commitment to our community shop.

You’ve both been a very special part of the shop’s story and will be greatly missed — although we suspect we haven’t quite seen the last of you yet! ❤️

📸 Chairperson Jenni Gardiner presents gifts of appreciation to Joyce (left) and Mary (right).

29/06/2026

Please note due to the shortage of volunteers the shop and cafe will close at 3.00pm today (Monday). With apologies.

22/06/2026

As we start a week of heat that may break all June records for temperatures the shop cafe will have it's air conditioning on and offer a place for a cuppa or cold drink in a cool atmosphere.
Open 9.00am until 5.00pm
St Pauls also will be cool to rest awhile. Always open during the day.

10/06/2026

Hello good villagers..now that many of us are taking summer holiday time out the shop is desperate for volunteers in the cafe to keep it functioning or sadly we will have to close it at short notice for certain hours.
Just a couple of hours a week of your time would help immensely to keep this vital role in the village open. Thank you.

09/06/2026

Just letting parishioners know that the conservation charity Caring for God’s Acre is organizing a “Love your burial ground week” from Saturday 6th – 14th June. As part of this the biodiversity group will be doing a bat and moth count one evening. St Paul’s churchyard is looking particularly lovely at the moment after its month of rest from mowing. The orchids are out in abundance. Do try and pop in some time. It is a lovely safe area for little ones to explore and play in the outdoors with a huge variety of wild flowers and bugs of various sorts. My two youngest grandchildren had a great morning playing there on Monday, just making nests with the grass mowings, looking for insects and filling in holes with rubble from the pile by the village hall and it would be lovely to see other families in there. Please just beware that children do not climb on the graves or the wall (particularly to the left of the entrance gate) as they are quite unstable and are on the list to be repaired as soon as we can find someone to do the work. Our churchyard was described this week by Rev James Turk, the team rector, as one of the most beautiful in the area and it belongs to you, the parishioners of Whiteshill and Ruscombe so please enjoy it.

Also on the subject of the church, when it is hot outside, the church always remains cool. It is unlocked by volunteers but it should be open between about 9 am- 5pm so do feel free to sit in there if you need to cool off. Cold drinks are provided at the back of the church and there is a toilet with nappy changing facilities available”

Heather Bayly, PCC member

02/06/2026

More volunteers urgently needed now.
The shop has lots of lovely volunteers who want to take holidays.Make new friends and meet new people
Shifts 2 hours to suit you, till Cafe or both!
Call in and speak to a volunteer and ask to be put on the rota.

26/05/2026

Phew..another scorcher 🥵. The Village Shop is not only air conditioned for cool comfort in the cafe, the fridges are stocked with ice cream.
Open 9.00am - 5.00pm

17/05/2026

A huge thank you to everyone who supported the Village Shop plant sale this morning. Despite the grey skies, there was a wonderful turnout and lots of plants found new homes, all contributing to the shop funds.
Thank you to all the sellers, those who kindly donated plants, and our happy band of volunteers who helped throughout the morning and served so brilliantly in the café. A super morning was had by all!
Photo shows setting up before the surge of buyers! 😁

16/05/2026

Lining up donated plants ready for tomorrow's sale 10am outside the village shop!

Thank you to everybody who has donated so far (proceeds all going towards shop maintenance). There's still time to donate too - just drop off at the shop or bring along for the start tomorrow morning.

And we're growing! This year Kevin Mullins will have a table so an even greater range of plants available, and our local Biodiversity Group will also have information available on the Wild Spaces project and how to sign up your garden as a welcoming place for wildlife.