The manager of a “lifeline” community store in the Hughenden Valley that was burgled and set fire to has called on local companies to donate their time and skills to help them rebuild the shop ahead of their 7th anniversary.

On Saturday, March 5, the police and fire brigade were called to the Hughenden Valley Community Shop in Coombe Lane, after a volunteer arrived to open up for the day and discovered that, in the early hours of the morning, the community store had been broken into, burgled and then set on fire.

Manager Louise Jones said all the volunteers were “absolutely devastated” after the incident and is now reaching out to residents to help them reopen so they can continue to provide services for their customers, many of them elderly.

She said: “The village seems to have lost its heart since the fire. There has been a noticeable difference in people being out in the village. The area was thriving and vibrant before this devastating event.”

Wycombe District Council has offered them a used modular building that could replace the portacabin that was gutted by fire, but could cost up to £18,000 to transport it to the site from its current location.

To support the move, Heart of Bucks, a community foundation that works with individuals and businesses to invest in projects that benefit the local community, has now set up a Local Giving campaign to campaign to raise awareness of this devastating news and appeal for time, skills and donations to help rebuild the shop in time for its 7th anniversary in May.

A company who can donate its time and resources to dismantle, transport and rebuild the WDC building, which was due to be demolished last week, is urgently needed as the council can only hold onto the building for a couple of weeks.

Builders, decorators, plumbers, carpenters and other skilled tradesmen are also needed to help prepare the replacement building for opening.

Around £330 has been raised towards the total so far. To make a donation visit www.localgiving.org/appeal/HVSOS/ or contact Louise Jones about offering direct support by emailing shopmanager@valleyshop.org.