Community shares
Capital at risk — please be aware of the risks associated with investing in community shares.
Mayday Saxonvale
Frome, Somerset, United Kingdom
All or nothing
This project needs 100% of its target
Aim
Help us buy Saxonvale. Together we can prove there is a better way to deliver regeneration, keeping long-term value rooted in our towns.
Our town. Our Saxonvale. Let's own it.
We’re reimagining regeneration with a new model of community ownership, which keeps value and decision-making rooted locally.
Our aim is to bring Saxonvale, a 12-acre brownfield site in Frome, Somerset into permanent community ownership and become the UK's largest community-led development.
We believe development should help rebuild our communities, leaving them stronger and more resilient for the future. For too long, development has been driven by short-term profits, with affordable homes, employment space and community spaces squeezed, while the value created leaves the people and places those developments were meant to serve.
Saxonvale is now on the open market. We need your investment to bring Saxonvale into community ownership. Together, we can show that communities have the power to shape the places we live.
You're not just investing in the future of Frome – you are investing in the future of communities everywhere.
Please read the full details in our Share Offer and Business Plan (click to open):
Community Share Offer
Mayday Saxonvale Community Benefit Society established with a bold vision: to create a thriving Saxonvale owned and shaped by our community, building long-term resilience, opportunity and belonging for Frome – setting a national blueprint for community-led placemaking and local control.
We need to raise a minimum of £1.5m through community shares to help bring Saxonvale into community ownership. Alongside £1.2m already committed through the Resonance Community Developers Fund, creating a minimum £2.7m funding package, backing a serious community-led bid for the site.
Investment opens Monday 8 June and closes Friday 11 July. Our private investment phase opens Wednesday 3 June for pre-registered supporters.
Key details:
- Minimum investment £250
- Maximum investment £50,000 for individuals and £100,000 for organisations
- Awarded the Community Shares Standard Mark
- If the bid is not accepted by Somerset Council, your investment is returned in full.
What you'll receive:
- Target 5% interest. Withdrawals opening from Year 5. (Not guaranteed).
- Your name recorded in the site
- Vote at AGMs. Stand for election to the Board. One member, one vote, exclusive of investment size.
What your investment makes possible
Your investment will help fund a competitive bid to bring Saxonvale into community ownership and unlock the next stage of development.
Together, we can create:
- Affordable homes for future generations
- Spaces for local businesses, makers and jobs
- Public and cultural spaces designed around people
- Long-term community ownership and stewardship
- Value reinvested back into Frome, not extracted from it
Unlike conventional development models, community ownership allows long-term value created at Saxonvale to stay rooted locally: strengthening our town for generations to come.
Ownership determines outcomes
Traditional development models are driven by short-term returns.
Our model is different.
We are taking the proven model of a Community Benefit Society and scaling it to deliver regeneration at scale. We exist to create long-term community benefit. Surpluses are reinvested back into the site, into community assets and the future of our town.
This is about more than development. It is about long-term stewardship, democratic ownership and giving communities a real stake in the future of the places they live.
A masterplan our community deserves
Saxonvale should be a community, not a development. Our policy-compliant, community-led masterplan will regenerate a central brownfield site into a genuine, mixed-use town centre extension with lasting community benefit.
- A mixed-use town centre regeneration project
- 10,000+ sqm of commercial & community space
- Minimum 30% affordable homes
- Community-owned assets
- Green infrastructure & placemaking
- Historic preservation and retro-fitting
Serious plans. Real backing.
We are not opposing development. We are proving it can be delivered differently.
We’ve secured £1.2 million funding from the Resonance Community Developers Fund, backed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
Over the past five years, we have brought together a professional technical team, experienced in delivering complex regeneration projects, along with a dedicated board to bring forward a deliverable regeneration project for Saxonvale.
Key partners include Stories, one of the UK’s leading purpose-led regeneration companies, Studio Saar Architects, Frome Area Community Land Trust, Abri Housing Association and specialist consultants across planning, engineering, transport, valuation and development finance.
Be part of what happens next
Development has changed the face of our towns over the years, with much more set on the horizon. Wouldn’t it be incredible, just for once, to have an actual say, an actual stake, in a major regeneration project? One that proves a new model for the rest of the UK.
Yes, it’s ambitious. But we believe communities can do better. We believe we can do better.
Because why shouldn’t we have the chance to shape the places we call home?
We cannot do this without you. Will you join us?
Brigid, Paul, Holly, Anita, Kerry, Caroline, Hannah, Peter and Ross
Team Mayday
Risk warning: Community shares are a high-risk investment. You could lose some or all of your money. Please read all documents carefully before investing. If you wish to nominate who would inherit your shares at this time, you can do so by emailing [email protected].
Funding method
All or nothing – this project will only receive pledges if it reaches its target of £1,500,000 by 10th July 2026 at 11:00pm