You will have the opportunity to purchase community shares in our Community Benefit Society, which would own and develop the Saxonvale site. Our previous funding arrangement didn’t offer the ability to provide community shares at this stage. If we’re successful, Saxonvale will be brought into community ownership, enabling us to protect it for future generations.
Your investment will support investment from Resonance Community Builders Fund to enable us to deliver a competitive bid to acquire the Saxonvale site when it is sold on the open market by Somerset Council.
By becoming a member and buying shares in our CBS, you will help shape how Saxonvale is developed and protected for generations to come.
Be part of what happens next
Fill out below form to access our share offer documents straight into your inbox as soon as they are available. You will also receive access to our private investment period, with no obligation.
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Community shares are a high-risk investment.
You could lose some or all of your money.
Please read all the documents before investing.
What are Community Shares?
Community Shares are a withdrawable, non-transferrable equity investment into a cooperative or community benefit society. It is a form of equity because the investors get a share of the organisation. It is ‘withdrawable’ because the investor can take their money out of the organisation if they choose to.
However, unlike conventional shares, a holder of community shares can not transfer them to another person and the shareholder has just one vote, regardless of the amount invested and the number of shares held.
What is a Community Share Offer (CSO)?
A Community Share Offer is a way for local people to invest in community-owned organisations by buying special shares, becoming part-owners, and getting a say in how it’s run, rather than just donating; these shares are unique because they’re usually withdrawable (you can get your money back) but not transferable, meaning you can’t sell them, fostering long-term local commitment and building community wealth. Hundreds of communities across the country have used community shares to save and create businesses that are important to them.
Investing in community shares involves a high degree of risk. You should ensure you read all documentation before investing.
How is our model different?
Ownership determines outcomes.
Community ownership allows value to be held, protected and reinvested over the long-term, enabling decisions to be made with future generations in mind.
We retain value locally
Surpluses are recycled back into the development and future phases, rather than being extracted as shareholder profit.
We use patient capital
Our investors, including community shareholders and social impact lenders like Resonance Foundation, accept capped returns and longer timescales. We’re not driven by the need for a quick exit. Patience translates directly into better outcomes.
We share the same purpose
Investors considering this opportunity, like you, believe in what Saxonvale can become, not only to maximise short-term returns. That alignment allows community benefit to remain central to our decision-making.
We can access funding private developers cannot
Our structure makes us eligible for grant funding that supports affordable housing, community facilities, workspace and infrastructure. Comparable community-led projects such as Hastings Commons have secured significant capital grants once ownership, delivery capability and community vision were in place.
Our current financial modelling assumes no grant funding. – This is deliberately cautious. If we secure grants, these would directly expand what the scheme can deliver. Although grant funding is not guaranteed, our structure makes us eligible for funding that private developers cannot access.
Community Shares Case Study – The Bell Inn, Bath
A Community Shares Unit film, telling the story of how a community came together to save one of the country’s most iconic pubs The Bell Inn, Bath.
The Bell is a much-loved freehouse in Walcot Street, Bath, converted from an eighteenth century coaching house. The Bell features live music three times a week, ranging from jazz to folk and roots music. The Bell’s future was in doubt in late 2012, when the previous owner put the property and business on the market. Two packed public meetings helped create the momentum which saw a co-operative society established and over £750,000 raised through a community share offer, which has now seen the pub “owned by people who love, live and breathe The Bell”.