David Hempleman-Adams, world-renowned adventurer and explorer, will be coming to Kilmersdon to share his experiences as part of a fundraising drive to help the community raise funds for its very own Village Shop.

A planning application has been submitted to Mendip District Council and is waiting to be heard, to extend Kilmersdon Village Hall and include the new, Community Shop, which will mainly be run by volunteers and including a café for locals to meet and socialise.

The idea began four years ago, when villager, Ken Hutton, who was part of the effort to raise funds for the 600-year-old church bell tower, which needed extensive repair and refurbishment after one of the bells came crashing down, began thinking of a new way to enhance village life with the effort of the community. Kilmersdon is no stranger to fundraising for the things it would most like to see or need, having also raised a massive £50,000 to secure and fund the village’s park.

A huge amount of work has begun since then. An initial article in the parish newsletter asking villagers if they would like a village shop, back in 2014 and a subsequent questionnaire to find out what villagers would use it for, both received positive responses with a 75% return rate.

Following this there was a presentation to villagers exploring the possible idea and later the selection of a proposed shop committee. Since then, there have been many meetings with Mendip District and the local Parish Council and other village shops, who have only been too happy to share their knowledge, including Mells and Freshford and visits to Blagdon, Croscomb and Maiden Bradley community shops to see how it is done.

Three land options were identified with the idea to extend the village hall settled upon. It is thought the committee will need to find around £350,000 for the project, most of which will be accessed through grants. The initial planning money needed has been found via the Plunkett Foundation, which helps rural communities and awarded the project a £2,000 bursary to get them started. If all goes well with planning, the committee hopes the shop will be ready to open in 2017.

Mr Hutton said: “The new shop would be a ‘top-up’ shop and a real community hub. It would provide a focal point for people to meet in the village and it is well placed and not as remote as some community shops, with passing trade and cycleways – we are confident that we can make it work.

“I have been amazed by the expertise of some of the villagers, who are offering their help to see this project off the ground.”

Fundraising events so far for the project have included a very successful quiz and curry evening, with local chef, Bini Ludlow. No stranger to organising celebrity events, (Ken Hutton booked Kevin McCloud to talk at a previous village event) and through a friend, he has invited the famous explorer, who is thought to have links to the village.

David Hempleman-Adams will be speaking at Kilmersdon Village Hall on Saturday, 5th March from 7.30 p.m., sharing his daring exploits. In 1996, he became the first Briton to walk solo and

unsupported to the South Pole, also taking part in a solo expedition to the North Pole. He was also the first person to reach both the geographic and magnetic North and South Poles and to climb the highest mountains in all seven continents. In total, he has made over thirty Arctic expeditions.

Hempleman-Adams has also set numerous ballooning records, becoming the first person to fly a balloon across the North Pole in 2003 and making the first flight across the Atlantic in an open wicker basket. In 2007, he set the world record for an ascent in a hot air balloon. To date, he has set 39 world aviation records and in 2008, he was part of the team which won the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, the only British team to have won the world’s oldest gas balloon race in its century-long history. David’s passion for adventure began in South Wales where he trekked and camped in the Brecon Beacons as a boy as part of the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, and is now a trustee, to help young people challenge themselves through outdoor activities. In 1992, he launched his own charity, The Youth Adventure Trust. For tickets to the talk, which will feature a bar and raffle, please contact: 01761 435193 or: 01761 433331.