Always on
This project successfully funded on 3rd July 2025, you can still support them with a donation.
Grow Village Greens: Shop, Café, Community
Manchester, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
£17,183
raised so far
411 supporters
Crowdfunder is secure
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Aim: Help us create a bigger zero-waste shop, café & community space by funding key items at our new premises!
Village Greens is more than a grocery store — we're a community. For over 10 years, we've been offering the best organic produce, supporting local suppliers, small businesses and artisans, and championing a zero-waste future. Now, we're taking a big step: moving to a bigger space!
Why the move?
We are moving because the Longfield Centre is being redeveloped and we would have had to move anyway. Instead of moving into a temporary location or closing, we proposed to our members that it was the right time to try and find a larger premises and expand the business. They voted in favour of the move.
Unfortunately we haven’t had any financial contribution from Bury Council and so we need to raise the funds ourselves to cover the costs of this big move, and expansion and we are asking our supporters to invest in the future of Village Greens and the Prestwich community through our Crowdfunder.
We've worked really hard in the Prestwich community for 10 years now, surviving lockdown and now we face another challenge.
Throughout our move we remain committed to sustainable values and as such ensure we reuse and recycle and share skills and assets as much as possible. We have been working hard to reuse and recycle things left behind in the new unit, and have a plan to take as much of our current shop with us. We have also been reaching out for people to share their skills and time - we have had a fantastic response from our members, with volunteers turning up every weekend to help strip and prep the new unit. We are also now talking to contractors working on the redevelopment, asking if they can support us with skills and resource to help with the huge job of replacing the floor, and building the all new community space.
We hope to be able to set up our space now to avoid disruption after we open the new shop. The community has been amazing already in volunteering labour, but now need more hard cash to deliver on key elements, and get ourselves set up to succeed in this new space.
What we want to do
Our new premises is in what was previously Prestwich Social, which is a great venue with lots of potential. This new home will let us:
- Expand our range of organic, ethical goods
- Open a cosy café serving fresh, local food
- Create a welcoming community space for events, workshops, and meetups
- Stay true to our environmental mission with even more sustainable options
We've always been rooted in the community: hosting events, offering workshops and supporting independent makers. We’ve loved providing a space where people can connect, create, and celebrate local talent. However, our impact has been limited by the size of our space. We now have the opportunity to grow into a true community hub.
We’re passionate about offering ethical, sustainable choices, and we’re proud to champion zero waste living wherever we can. With more space and funding, we’ll be able to expand our range of eco-friendly products, support more ethical makers, and introduce new initiatives that help our community live more sustainably.
We’re excited to be able to introduce a café that celebrates ethically sourced, local, and organic ingredients. We want to create a welcoming space where people can gather, enjoy great food and drink, and support organic farmers and producers at the same time. Every cup and plate will reflect our commitment to sustainability, community, and quality.
But we need your help.
We have been working hard with our volunteers, to make the new space ready, but have already hit unforeseen challenges including needing to remove and repair the whole floor. We now need help to raise £25,000 to help us develop the community space, café space and to fund additional pieces of kit that will put us in the best possible position to make the space a vibrant, sustainable hub we know it can be.
£15,000 will enable us to do the structural work needed. An extra £10000 will help us to decorate and furnish the space, and to purchase additional items required in the new location, including two pallet truck to help with deliveries, health and safety equipment for store colleagues, technology to assist with improving ordering efficiency and accuracy, and new refrigeration to replace some of our existing kit that is at the end of its life. The shopping list is long, so if we can raise more, even better. We could then buy equipment to help us expand our offer with things like outdoor seating, baby changing facilities, kids play area equipment, a washing machine, a chest freezer, a tablet to take orders remotely, etc.
If you are a business and are able to offer any labour or any of these items, please do get in touch. We, our members and our community would be super grateful!
Every donation brings us closer to a thriving community space where people can connect, learn, and shop sustainably.
How You Can Help:
- Donate whatever you can, every pound counts!
- Share our campaign with friends, family, and anyone who believes in good food and good communities.
- Choose one of our rewards — little 'thank you' packages we've put together to show our gratitude.
- Offer a reward to our donors. Especially if you are a local business, our donors would love a free meal, treatment, hair cut or massage, or anything that you feel would be valuable to them.
- Volunteer your expertise or time to help us ready the new shop. We run regular volunteer days on a Saturday,
Together, we can build something amazing. Thank you for being part of our community. 💚
MEMBERSHIP
If you would prefer to support us by becoming a member, that's great news.
We're powered by our members and we'd love you to be part of it!
You can join through our website or pop into the shop and sign up in person.
Every member makes a difference, and you'll get a real say in our future too!
CALLING ALL COMMUNITY GROUPS!
As part of our exciting move, we're creating a welcoming community space alongside our new café and shop — a place for workshops, meetups, talks, classes, and more.
If you're a local group, project, or organisation looking for a friendly, sustainable space to meet, create or collaborate, we'd love to hear from you!
We're building a list of interested groups to keep updated as the space takes shape.
Get in touch and put your name down — let's grow this community together!
Email [email protected]
A huge huge thank you to the local community for supporting us with this campaign and offering rewards with special thanks going to: