Sennels raises 2.1 million kroner to save village shop

Residents of Sennels in Thy have raised 2.1 million kroner to take over their village shop, DR reports. It is the fourth time the village has collected more than a million kroner for a major local project.

The money has been raised through shares in Sælnæs Invest, a company established for the purpose. The company will take over the shop and rent it to a new shopkeeper when the current one leaves at the end of the year.

The fundraising target was 1.5 million kroner, meaning it has been exceeded by 600,000 kroner. Each shareholder had to buy shares worth at least 4,000 kroner, and Hans Votborg, chairman of Sælnæs Invest, estimates that residents from 300 of the village’s 400 households will take part.

“We have realised that nobody from outside is going to come and ask what they can do to help us. We have to take action ourselves,” Votborg said.

The agreed purchase price for the shop is three million kroner, so the residents still need to raise about one million kroner. They will work with grocery group Dagrofa to apply for foundation funding and will borrow the remaining amount from a bank if necessary.

“Every time we have raised money, we have succeeded. That will probably be the case this time too,” Votborg said.

Four major fundraising drives

Sennels residents first raised a million-kroner sum in 1987 to build Nordthy Hallen, a local sports hall. They collected 1.1 million kroner at the time.

Twenty years later, they raised another 1.1 million kroner to provide the village’s current shopkeeper with a loan to establish the business. He has since repaid the loan.

In 2018, residents raised 1.23 million kroner to build two rental homes. The homes were intended for older people who wanted to leave their detached houses without moving away from the village, as well as young people who were not yet ready to buy a home. The two homes each measure 112 square metres.

Including the latest fundraising, the residents have raised 5.53 million kroner in total, equivalent to 7.8 million kroner in current value, according to the figures provided by DR.

Erik Gustavsson, chairman of the Sennels Citizens’ and Development Association, attributed the fundraising efforts to the village’s strong community ties.

Sennels was named Village of the Year 2025 by the Danish Outdoor Council, the National Association of Villages in Denmark and Forenet Kredit.