Following the very successful public meeting in Newport, Pembrokeshire which was held to discuss bringing the much-loved local wholefoods shop into community ownership, a team of local residents is taking the project forward. 

Over 180 people have already completed the online survey at https://bit.ly/WholefoodsSurvey which the Project Wholefoods team launched to test demand further. More than 85 per cent of respondents say that securing the future of the wholefoods shop is “very important” to Newport, and 90 per cent are supportive of a community purchase.

The Project Wholefoods team is working closely with the group behind the successful community purchase of Havards in Newport which became the first community-owned hardware shop in the UK in 2022.

Cris Tomos of PLANED, the charity supporting community share offers in West Wales, says “It is fantastic to see so much momentum building to secure the future of Wholefoods of Newport as a community-owned shop.”

Cris added that he is working closely with the Project Wholefoods team to progress funding applications and the community share offer.

The business plan and funding applications are currently being finalised, and the launch of a community share offer is planned for June.