THE volunteers of Ashwater Village Shop were delighted to have won the ‘Investing in Local People’ award at the national Rural Community Ownership Awards, designed to recognise the very best examples in the sector.

Chair of the Ashwater village shop committee Rachael Martyn, volunteer Mel Lowe and committee member Kate Davis travelled to London recently to collect the award on behalf of the shop.

Mel said: “It was pretty amazing to be honest, all the other shops that had been nominated were fantastic so for us to win was brilliant.”

Mel said the award was mainly for the shop’s charity work, but more so for the work they do investing in the local people and organisations of Ashwater: “A lot of the money we raise goes to things like the football team, the church and the school — all local organisations.”

Money raised goes to help fund the running of the community shop, which is volunteer led, but what they are able to give to the community they do.

Mel said: “Of course being a community shop it is run by volunteers and we use some of the funding to top up and keep the service going whilst putting back what we can into the local community. We mustn’t forget our local volunteers — the shop couldn’t run without them, they really are a credit to the village.”

The shop won’t stop and has already got a few more fundraising ideas in the pipeline including a ‘Curry and Quiz’ night, which will aim to support the local pub as well as the shop, and a twist on the village’s ‘I’m a Local Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’ with a children’s edition being planned for next year, which they hope to tie in with the local school.