A COMMUNITY space set up by three West Somerset women has celebrated its first anniversary.

Hayley’s, in Williton, was formed as a community interest company by directors Hayley Williams, Anna Matias, and Lizzie George and opens Thursday to Saturday.

The women run a shop in Robert Street selling vintage and quality pre-loved ladies wear, as well as supporting independent crafters who provide workshops in the community space.

They currently have 26 craft leads and a growing team of women who volunteer time to keep it all flowing.

Hayley’s hosts a weekly community drop-in on Fridays as well as a regular friendship support group for women with breast cancer called The Booby Birds.

There are regular knit and stitch sessions as part of their direct wellbeing offer, each of which has a shop volunteer supporting as host.

Craft opportunities range from pottery, water colour painting, mosaics, needle felting, crochet lessons, and macrame, to card craft and Gelli art printing.

Other activities include embroidery and paint pouring, decoupage, and jewellery creation, all led by independent craft leaders who hire the community space and offer affordable sessions for small groups.

Ms Williams said: “The focus is on providing a space in our community for women to gather, make friends, reducing isolation, and enhancing social mobility and confidence through learning new skills.

“Ladies wear is priced for affordability and Hayley’s supports community fetes with donations of clothing for stalls with our volunteers, to raise funds beyond the shop for surrounding villages.”

Hayley’s has a presence on Facebook which is growing its online community with views on the page frequently exceeding 140,000 per month.

Ms Williams said: “Social media markets the drive for our shopping habits to be local and affordable with low ‘clothing miles’, reducing our impact on our planet through textile waste and carbon emissions.”