PRIME Minister and Witney MP David Cameron may have coined the phrase, but groups of residents across West Oxfordshire have been involved in ‘Big Society’ initiatives for years.

They have been running community shops, not-for-profit ventures staffed by volunteers, for the past decade, often to give small communities a place to shop for essentials such as food and newspapers.

They were thrust into the spotlight recently when Fenella Gray, who helped set up Bampton Community Shop, was honoured with an MBE.

All profits go to community projects. Some £54,000 has been donated since it opened in 2004 to spruce up facilities, including the village hall and recreation ground.

But, of her Big Society shop, she laughed and said: “We’ve been going for a lot longer than David Cameron has been in power – maybe he got the idea from us.”

In October, television presenter Charlie Brooker visited his home village of Brightwell-cum-Sotwell with wife Konnie Huq to open a community shop. Villagers raised £225,000 to give the village a new shop after the loss of the previous store in 2002.

And that month, Islip’s community shop celebrated 10 years of trading.

The store even offers a shoe repair and dry cleaning service – and, of course, sells the Oxford Mail.

Manager Maralynn Smith said: “I feel so proud that we can provide the village with what it needs.

“If people want to know anything, or want anything done, they come to the shop.”

West Oxfordshire is home to Woodstock-based Plunkett Foundation, which has helped 251 rural communities across the country set up and run the stores.

The charity has helped set up six county shops, in Leafield, Ascott-under-Wychwood, Chadlington, Charlbury, Filkins and Finstock, with the support of Oxfordshire Rural Community Council.

West Oxfordshire has one of the largest concentrations of such shops in the country, it says.

The Plunkett Foundation asks residents to contribute about £20,000 and then matches that with a grant and the option of a loan.

Chief executive Peter Couchman said: “They are about communities working together to decide what is best for them, and then committing to the project for the long-term benefit of the area.

“Only eight community-owned village shops have ever closed in 25 years, which means that a staggering 97 per cent of those that have opened are still open.”

The Ascott Village Shop opened in 2003 after the village’s only shop closed and now has 45 volunteers and three paid members of staff.

Management committee chairman Mike Pearce said it had become the “centre of the community”, adding: “It’s about more than just going there for a bag of sugar.”

Filkins Village Shop was set up in 2005 because the community had been with a general store for more than a decade. It is now run by 20 volunteers.

Management committee chairman Trish Poole said: “We provide not only a service to the community, but also a social service. It’s a place where people can meet.

“We had to put a lot of effort into it and we still do. It doesn’t run itself, but it has been well worth it.”

She said: “I think there’s a responsibility on all individuals and communities to contribute. You get out what you put in.”