WITH some goods travelling less than half a mile, Spreyton Village Shop is truly local, 10 years old this month.

Owned by the community, it is staffed by a 40-strong group of volunteers.

A cake decorated with a basket of produce, all made from marzipan, a representation of a few of the cakes sold there, was cut in the morning with everyone who visited being offered a slice.

The day was also saw the launch of a new cotton shopping bag bearing the shop logo of the Three Hares with every customer being given a bag.

Also launched was the range of greetings cards, photographs from around the area, taken by photographer Liz Mary, who lives in Spreyton.

To comply with new regulations, a local builder donated the Perspex and made a screen for the shop counter and a local lady makes individual, decorated face masks for sale in the shop.

Shop manager, Bella Snook, commented: “We have one customer in at a time, so we have had to cut down on the chat, but that is what we are, a social hub.

“We are lucky to have the verandah where people can chat or if customers prefer, we can serve them through the window.”

Chris Dack, chairman of the management committee, added: “We had to ration some things but we managed to never run out of anything. Sourcing some products had needed much imagination on Bella’s part. It was crazy things that did almost run out, but never toilet paper!

“The last three months have been quite a challenge. Get through the next three months and things are looking rosy for the future.

“One of our volunteers, Kay Caldwell, led the shop in a self-evaluation last year, trying to find out how well the shop was meeting its vision of being more than just a shop - of being a community hub and delivering more benefit for fewer miles travelled.

“We wanted to know whether the shop was helping people who were isolated or less mobile, what the volunteering opportunities meant for the village and was it providing an outlet for local producers. There were some surprising answers.

“As well as those who are regulars, we had support from people who do not come here for whatever reason who had said they would be very sorry if the shop was not here, which was surprising and heartening.

“People asked for us to develop local deliveries more, things for those who were less mobile.”

A bit of a Tardis it is surprising what can be found on the shelves from cider made in the shelter of the church tower down the road from the shop to bamboo socks, anchovies, locally made cakes, cheese and an area outside to sit and chat over a coffee and cakes.

Spreyton shop was one of the first to go cashless at the start of the Covid precautions.

The cake had been made and iced by Jean Gallop who lives in Spreyton and is one of the shop volunteers.

The shop was purpose built on land provided by the Community Trust. Building and stocking costs were met by a share issue in the village, a loan from the Co-operative Bank, and grants from LEAF, the local authorities, and the Plunkett Foundation.

Recent figures from the Foundation suggest that community shops have a high survival rate (94 per cent) compared with commercial small businesses (46 per cent).