We have been number crunching again and this is what we have found out!

https://www.acs.org.uk/research/rural-shop-report-2024

Come and discover what we have to offer everyday this Easter weekend, locally made hot cross buns, mint sauce of jelly. Herefordshire ciders and wye valley meads to relax this Easter plus matches, kindling, flamers and logs to keep the cosy vibe going. We have over 30 new products this week so come and discover what we have under our arched roof nestled in the at the foot of the Black mountains.

We have been refocusing our skills and completed the Small Business Britain sustainability basics for a second time. Why......... we are committed to making a difference and that happens through learning and developing. Hopes is also delighted to have been selected with a handful of others across the country for one to one support by Small Business Britain and Sustainable pathways.

https://smallbusinessbritain.uk/green-skills-for-small-business https://www.sustainable-pathways.com/

November 2023 and we celebrated Jenny Hope being our Postmistress for 20 years. Jenny has worked for the Post Office in Longtown for 5years previously and has seen many changes and has always been ready to help. Pictured here is Neil presenting Jenny with her 20 year service award

We are looking forward to seeing smiling faces this bank holiday and have ordered extra for this busy weekend. The Post Office will be closed Bank Holiday Monday our out of course service will be available at the shop counter.

On International womens day (8th March 23) we are celebrating the lead taken in our business with two thirds female founders and a corresponding amount of success in our business from our hard working team being majority female over two decades. May we always treat each other fairly and how we wish to be treated

We are thrilled to receive an email this evening, we have been shortlisted with four other tip top shops in the West Midlands and the fab Yarpole community shop in Herefordshire

https://www.countryside-alliance.org/our-work/rural-awards/caawards/countryside-alliance-awards-2022-regional-finalist/midlands-regional-finalists

Whoop, whoop, twenty one years after we started, nineteen years since the quantity surveyor was out by One Hundred Thousand pounds. We have been working on plans for a few years to be a more resilient business and finally we have got a staged plan. A planning application was sent and weeks later it is now live for your comments. Obviously we would appreciate support being sent to Herefordshire Council quoting P223847/F. You can be negative too, we would just appreciate to also hear from you to understand and adapt if we can. If link does not open cut and paste to your browser

https://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/xfp/form/285?id=P223847/F&linkid=223847

We are open, family time Christmas Day and Boxing Day, then back to it with reduced hours over Christmas and New Year

Whoop our £25 gift voucher is ready to be purchased, excitingly one can by won too in Pontrilas YFC Christmas Draw

FestiveFriday is the day when everyone in the greeting card industry, and card lovers everywhere, send their Christmas cards. Receiving Christmas cards reminds people to send theirs; so Festive Friday starts the annual exchange of Christmas cards! Join us 10.30am to 3.30pm and we can Longtown Post Office date stamp your Christmas cards

Personal shopping appointments starting at 1pm and 3pm. Enjoy the shop all to yourself, choose a few tunes, enjoy a cup of tea or taste some of our local artisan spirits. Sunday newspapers can be ordered and reserved in advance for collection at a later time

We are thrilled to be nominated for the Countryside Alliance Rural Oscar awards, feeling very lucky. Can you make it last and nominate us again, judges are impressed by the variety of reasons any one business can be nominated and we would love to be shortlisted in a category this year

https://www.countryside-alliance.org/our-work/rural-awards/caawards

We love our little shop, like many stores up and down the country the current pressures of running the business need skills and adaptability. Christine was delighted to be asked by the Association of Convenience stores to represent retailers across the Country at the recent Conservative party conference. She was also invited to the Business forum reception and was interested to meet and hear the Chancellor speak

It was always going to happen, we are so very sad and thinking of her family. Following her ethics, duty and values we will be open for the community 7.30am onwards and with respect close at 10.30am. If you are experiencing feelings you were not expecting, this is normal grief and if want to share it, do tell us.

Look forward to seeing your smiling faces over the Jubilee days Yes you can refill plastic bottles with household cleaning products and yourself Thursdays 3pm to 6.30pm Sat 7th Jubilee Fun at the Cornwall Arms starts from 12 noon onwards Sun 8th Jubilee Fun at Longtown Village Hall from 12.30pm onwards

We are open and looking forward to seeing you this Easter. Hot cross buns and meat can be ordered in advance. Post Office is Closed Good Friday and Easter Monday

We have always had sustainability as our business aim, however the last few years the marketing green wash around our environment has made us shy away from sharing what we do, how and why. No more. Inspired by the Herefordshire Council Greener Footprints Herefordshire project we are rejvinated. We are taking part in Small Business Saturday programme called Small Business Sustainability Basics with an inspiring group of peers from all over the country, regaining our confidence and voice. One thing is very clear affordable swaps and changes when you can and how often you can, will have an impact.

17th December 2001 we opened our doors for the first time. This Friday we celebrate 20 years with a brand new branding to start the next 20 years off in style

We were utterly thrilled to win our category last Thursday at the Hereford Times Food and Farming awards. Tilly's pop up shop is a treasure trove of local goodness and Hamish from LocalEsourced provides tempting Herefordshire product joy ordered and delivered to anywhere in the UK. Both businesses we admire so this was a very special win

Thrilled to be doing out bit for the environment and offering new ways to shop. Our Thursday refil service from 3.30pm to 6.30pm overs nearly 50 cleaning or health and beauty lines to choose from. Excitingly we added three new products this week Ecoleaf washing up liquid, Alter/Native uplifting Pink Grapefruit, Aloe Vera and Lime plus Bio D hand wash in plum and mulberry. Come get your free sample to try before you buy. Yes picture is tricky to read, pick up a paper copy from the shop or email us refil list and we will happily reply with the list

The awards are a celebration of our proud agricultural sector, and recognise the hard work done day in and day out by farmers, food producers and food retailers across Herefordshire and the Welsh Borders. Recognizing all the hard work carried out day in and day out across the county, not only in helping feed the people of Herefordshire but the nation and beyond. Hopes is thrilled to be shortlisted with LocalEsourced and Tillys in the retail category.

https://www.herefordtimes.com/awards/foodandfarming/localfoodretailer/

Emma Ball has really captured a moment of joy with her penguin dancing card. Back in stock, lets see if they last longer than ten days this time

As you adventure off to support other local businesses. We just wanted to say THANK YOU, when we are trading in six months time it will be because YOU supported us now.

Completed the Government Risk Assessment for working safely during COVID-19 (Shops & branches) just under a month ago. Gained clarification from the very helpful team at Herefordshire Council Environmental Health too. We wanted to let you know that if you ever feel unsafe in the shop, take protection for yourself first walk outside with your shopping and come back in when you feel safe and alert us to the situation. We are very aware that some of our most lovely customers have reduced abilities and we all need to be patient so everyone can shop safely, please keep yourself safe first - we understand.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/working-safely-during-coronavirus-covid-19/shops-and-branches

So excited you can now at any time refill you pocket Black Mountain Botanical Handsantiser at the shop and your One litre bottles at are usual refill time on Thursdays 3pm to 6.30pm

When choosing to visit our little store, it is not an outing. One person to do essential shopping for yourself or others. If you are at all concerned or suffer anxiety please call us 01873 860444 to use our same day personal shopper collect or delivery service.

Local Coronavirus Help Longtown Community Network Supported by Longtown Group Parish Council Email if you need any sort of help or support ewyas.lacey@gmail.com Please copy and paste into your browser, really sorry it will not allow to click the link!

http://longtownvillagehall.org.uk/cv19/?fbclid=IwAR0Pz4Nhi0-OrTls1lT0ADrJAK7gaSt_yHC-AJmh5FvVmn8qfwKG8DSrOc8

We are here to help. Do not panic you live in a lovely wider community ready and willing to give support. Get in touch 01873 860444 The Details * When self isolating, just call us on 01873 860444 ** We will call you back on a different number to keep our telephone line clear (This will take time as we process orders and get stock on the shelf) *** Collate your items when we are on the phone, offering alternatives where needed. **** Process it through our tills and then take payment over the phone by card. ***** If you can drive we will put it in the boot of your car or we will arrange to have it delivered * If you can’t pay by card we are happy to accept cash or cheque this is not a problem, it will involve sanitiser

On March 25, 1942, nearly a thousand young, unmarried Jewish women boarded a train in Poprad, Slovakia. Filled with a sense of adventure and national pride, they left their parents' homes wearing their best clothes and confidently waving good-bye. Believing they were going to work in a factory for a few months, they were eager to report for government service. Instead, the young women-many of them teenagers-were sent to Auschwitz. Their government paid 500 Reichsmarks (about £160) apiece for the Nazis to take them as slave labour. Of those 999 innocent deportees, only a few would survive. Join us in Longtown Village Hall for tea and cakes from 6.30pm with Local Author sharing these stories from 7.00pm

Every Thursday we pop up a refill service at the shop with Bio d Cleaning Products and Faith in Nature, The Little Soap Company and Dr Bronner for toiletries with five shampoos and four conditioners to choose from we will have the one that is right for you. Reducing plastic usage and reusing your bottles is enjoyable knowing you are doing your small bit for the environment. For those with lots of washing we started to doing prefilled late summer 2019 (Reusing our own 5L bottles with the products you love making them available every day), now we are so excited to be able of offer the Bio D Laundry & Fabric conditioner in Lavender **

Share the love this Valentines, take frozen pizzas to a friend for a easy quick tea, save on the washing up. Donate to a charity of your choice or treat your Mum to welshcakes and chat. Remember if you are in our little #EclecticVariety emporium and spending £15 flash your truffle card for a handmade chocolate treat to share or keep for yourself!

Thank you for an awesome Eco Options 2020, sharing our sustainable business plans with you. Our top three successes of the morning: 1. We have a refill service every Thursday 3pm to 6.30pm 2. Two Farmers Crips are in compostable packaging 3. We reuse our delivery boxes for your shopping

Our Christmas orders forms are now live, five and a half pages to make your Christmas food and drink festivities super easy, boosting the local economy #ShopLocal30 and another half a page of what we love. Order by Saturday 7th December and watch Christine go grey as she and the team find that elusive homemade award winning chutney and handmade cheese using local milk too (you know the one we mean). All packed and ready for collection on 23rd December or Christmas Eve, call in for your printed copy or email us for a digital copy.

Adding to our eclectic variety, we have flea spray or powder for dogs and cats. Plus essential stain and odour remover for those little accidents. We stock a range of pet food from working dog to garden hedgehog. Himalayan salt horse licks to be back in stock October 2019. Reflective leads, lights, toys and jackets to enjoy time together from dawn to dusk.

We are thrilled local creative Crispin Thornton Jones has painted another original view of the glorious Black Hill/Cats Back, capturing a local character, our wonderful landscape, treasured flora + forna and the stand off relationship between stubborn ewe and masterful dog. The original is available not yet on his website so contact Crispin direct for the most wonderful one of a kind gift.

www.crispinthorntonjones.com

We are thrilled to be listed in the TOP 100 independent retailers in the UK & Ireland, we are now waiting to see if we may have been listed in any of the 12 categories.

https://www.betterretailing.com/top-100/

*** Update so many issues including technical ones, never experienced by our supplier before. Many, many apologies wonderful customers *** Psssssssst “ We are investing in a till ” Overnight Tuesday 11th June 2019 We are getting with the times to benefit from cloud based technology (New to us they have been around a few years) Please be patient with us whilst we get to grips with a whole new system, everything has changed. The benefits are we should be able to automate some of our administration to save us time With our new found time (in a few months) we can develop our exciting ideas to improve the business Current system - Card Account Customers Thank you for being one of our fab card account holders in the early days you enabled us to trade putting £100 on a card up front spending over your next few visits and then topping up again. If you currently have a credit balance, can we encourage you to treat yourself today as we close all the card accounts and change to a Customer account (Personal and or Business) If you currently have a card account on a negative balance, please can you credit the account to £0 New System - Customer Account Anyone can set up a Customer Account with a maximum of £1000 and a minimum £20 deposit When we do this we will take contact details and confirm we are GDPR compliant. Thank you in advance for your patience

We are thrilled Dave Stanley will be joining us for an evening to share his experiences on Monday 25th March at 7pm in Longtown Village Hall. For the past 15 years Dave has run his own environmental consultancy and is now a director of the Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment (IEMA). Over this period, starting from scratch, he has built up a pedigree beef suckler herd of Lincoln Reds. From conception, this was managed on a ‘zero energy input’ basis that had to be totally grass-fed. The beef was marketed locally via a box scheme. In 2012 he was operating profitably with almost 50 head of cattle over 32ha (80 acres). He won the Lincolnshire Environmental Award for Farming, and Best Native Breed Four Ribs of Beef at the Smithfield Show. Since then he has sold up and moved to Worcestershire with a third of the herd, to be closer to family. Dave is passionate about promoting the importance of understanding, and operating within natural cycles – in particular the carbon cycle. He is convinced that livestock and grassland have a vital role to play in both mitigating climate change, and enhancing/reinstating ecosystems, through their interaction with our soils.

On Monday 25th February, join us for tea and cake at 6.30pm in Longtown Village Hall. As we meander down the Wye at 7pm with Marsha OMahony author of River Voices Extraordinary Stories from the Wye. Everyone welcome, copies will be available for signing. Our Fab Feb #BookoftheMonth

Every Thursday 3.00pm - 6.30pm, we are offering a refil service, starting with Bio D company and Faith in Nature. If you want to reduce your plastic usage, this is one way, of you could come just to save money. New start time of 3pm, we listened !

To top off our very exciting news, our MP Jesse Norman popped over to congratulate us

Tuesday was such a special day for us, on the Terrace at the House of Commons we were awarded Runners up in the Best Small shop 2018 and as you can imagine we are thrilled. This award is fantastic and great recognition of our fantastic colleagues, wonderfully local and unique suppliers and you totally tip top customers, without who none of this would be possible, THANK YOU (Christine Hope and Ruth George MP)

We are thrilled to be launching our 2018 Christmas order form on the 14th November. Grab a cup of tea and celebrate the wonderful local producers of food and drink, within 30 miles of our front door. Just a couple further a field have snuck in because they taste sensational. Return your form by Sunday 9th of December and decide when to collect it 23rd/ 24th December.

Saturday 17th November Oh my goodness have you seen how many jars of deliciousness Liz produces? Come and talk, learn and try these jars of happiness to your taste buds and if you have a #TruffleHerefordshireCard bag yourself a bargain throughout November.

We just love books and Adele Nozedar, Foraging with Kids is our Book of the Month. Get to inspire you and your tribe to get outdoors and find tasty delicious edible food.

We are thrilled to be a top 100 independent retailer for a third year running in the UK and Ireland. The Independent Achievers Academy said - This is a fantastic achievement, and you should be proud - the Top 100 is an exclusive list of independent local shops who are consistently delivering a great experience for their shoppers across the 12 key disciplines of the #IAA18

https://www.betterretailing.com/iaa/top-100-independent-retailers-in-the-uk-ireland-2018

Come and get your FREE Longtown Show schedule Write the date in your diary Saturday 18th August. It will be a totally tip top day and well worth a visit. Gates open from 8am with the official opening at 12.30pm Adults £5 Children 5-15 £1 bring you dancing shoes too for the After Show Dance 8.30pm to 1am (£5 entry 18+ unless permission granted to 16+ on the day) Get cash out to spend at the show from our Post Office FREE of charge 9am - 11am

Please come and join us for a few hours of celebration, Thursday 24th May, 3pm -7pm Chat * Food * Drink RSVP if you can to christine@hopesoflongtown.co.uk Come straight from school, pop in on your way home, enjoy tea out, pray for fine weather. Everyone Welcome

Whoop we are now on Summer Sunday opening times 10am - 2pm and just so you know open Bank Holiday Mondays 10am - 2pm

Join us on the 12th May from 10am onwards to taste the delights of gin from Black Mountain Botanicals

WE ARE OPEN, very few deliveries are getting through but we are well stocked with all our normal goodies. There is no post today, however if you are having an office day, the Post Office is open. We will however close early at 4pm today Friday 2nd March. normal hours Saturday 7.30am - 4pm and Sunday 10am - 12 noon Thanks Hatterall Herbs for the photo

When speaking to Ewyas Harold U3A , we got asked this question again and our answer, firstly we stocked what we liked so we would eat it all up if the business was to fail! 16 years later and it is based on what sells, customer requests and products we think will make a difference; either to the community or environment. Take a look at Made in Nature Ingredient policy and work out why we stock it and it is British made

https://www.faithinnature.co.uk/Our-Ingredient-Policy

Finn joined Christine, Colin and Nola for cuddles a bit earlier than expected on Friday 8th December, everyone is well.

So we have three ranges of local chutneys but if you make your own delicious chutney we make just have the secret ingredient you are looking for and cannot find on other shelves - Chinese Five Spice

We are thrilled that the Independent Achievers Academy, after an independent inspection over 12 areas have included us in their Top 100 independent retailers again in 2017.

http://www.betterretailing.com/iaa/top-100/

We are excited Swan Brewery with award winning Green credentials are joining us on Saturday 25th so you can rub and sniff hops and introduce you to their exceptional beer Call in anytime to purchase their exceptional bottles

Join us 3pm Saturday 4th February, when local author David Vaughan will be here to answer your questions and sign his relauched book. David has written many books so if you bought the first edition and enjoyed it, buy a copy for a friend or oick up one of his other titles.

Come an join us celebrating our 15th Birthday 10am - 12noon Stoke a donkey, Christmas Card Making and a special visitor 12noon - 2pm Spiced by Rayeesa and Black Mountain roast to tempt and delight 2pm - 4pm Bring your instrument or voice and join the Community Orchestra with Mince pies and mulled cider

So excited our Christmas order forms are ready for collection, choose from so much lovely local produce from within 30 miles of our doorstep. we are truly blessed with such variety and choice. So this Christmas Eat Local, Shop Local and Enjoy Local #ShopLocal30

We were excited to be listed in the top 100 retailers fro 2016 but shortlisted in the Digital Engagement category. We are thrilled.

Come and join us from 10am - 1pm on Saturday the 22nd October enjoying coffee from Black Mountain Roast. The Marvellous Mungo will be here to answer any questions. So go on treat yourself and we look forward to seeing you.

We are delighted to announce Christine & Colin have had a baby girl, Nola Marion Morel born Saturday 25th July

The categories for entry are: Junior Baker (Under 16s) ~ Best White Loaf ~ Best Savoury Loaf ~ Best Sweet Loaf ~ Best Gluten Free Loaf Loaves must be delivered into the Hopes of Longtown store by 4pm Saturday 9th May and will be on display until lunchtime Sunday 10th. Overseen by Herefordshire artisan food champion Phillipa Jinman of The Temple Bar Inn at Ewyas Harold

To celebrate Real Bread week (9th - 15th May) we will be holding our annual Bread Making competition Winners will each take home a copy of Brilliant Bread by Great British Bake-off finalist James Morton. One overall winner will also get the chance to choose an original baking picture by local artist Kate Raggett (www.kateraggett.com) Picture shows 2014 Junior Baker winner and 2014 Overall Champion

We love being part of a local economy making a differnce to our community, but sometimes we forget to share this with you!!! So here is our board displaying our fab local suppliers and if you think you could supply us, produce fab products within 30 miles of the store you could be a fab local supplier too!

It may be a little chilly for a few more weeks yet, so may we suggest these few essentials! (We do have red wine and chocolates)

Our top tip is that WD-40 (short for War Department 40 experiments), is fantastic at removing tar off our tiles. We thought some of you too, may have suffered a similar fate after recent road surfacing, so our top tip is a squirt of WD-40 and wipe away. (We have them in stock too)

Mr Graham Langer on his way to Longtown Primary School in military dress for World War I