A POPULAR village grocery hub has been given a makeover for the new year thanks to funding from the county council.

The May Hill Hub, which was setup at the village hall during the pandemic to provide fresh local produce to the community, has had a redesign following investment secured from the council’s Build Back Better Fund.

The grant was used to pay for new, permanent fridges and a new cupboard.

The hub team were also grateful to receive a donation from the May Hill Christmas Market recently, which was used to improve lighting and upgrade payment technology.

Following the improvements, the shop area has been redesigned to showcase the best of local produce and provide a “cosy and welcoming” shop space to serve the community.

On Friday (February 10), organiser Jane Foot welcomed Gloucestershire County Councillor Philip Robinson (Mitcheldean) to see the new look hub and thank him for his “continued support”.

The hub is a ‘click and collect’ service which sources a range of produce from the local area for collection at the hall on Friday afternoons.

Since the pandemic, the venture has gone “from strength to strength”, having expanded to offer a Friday ‘Buy-on-the day’ shop, ‘Knit (or not) & natter’ community cafe on the second Friday of every month and The ’May Hill Music Makers’ community group on the first Monday of the month.

It also runs a range of creative workshops supporting local artists, including everything from printmaking, mosaic art and creative stitching to enamelling and encaustic iron art.   

Planning is already underway for a  ‘walk & talk’ to coincide with the monthly cafe, as well as a late night collection once a month from the monthly May Hill Pop Up Pub.

A spokesperson said: “The May Hill Hub team would like to take this opportunity to thank the local businesses who trade with them, loyal customers and especially their volunteers who are the heart of the operation.”

Anyone interested in volunteering or trading with the hub should email [email protected].

To find out more and to place an order, go to www.mayhillhub.com.