A loyal ‘coast’ to volunteers at people’s shop
A GROUP of volunteers have spent a combined 26,500 hours helping ensure a village has a thriving local shop.
Gawsworth Community Shop, on Longbutts Lane, opened as a pop-up store in 2011, taking over when the last privately run one in the immediate area shut.
It has since thrived and is now open seven days a week, providing an essential lifeline for residents and with National Lottery Funding added a cafe and meeting place to become a community hub.
At the heart of its success are the team of 50 volunteers who own, manage and staff the shop.
And 17 of these have been honoured for giving at least 10 years service.
They were presented with certificates of achievement and a specially commissioned gift of a ‘10 years a volunteer’ coaster crafted by ceramicists at Moorlands Pottery.
Among the volunteers were husband and wife Margaret and Geoff Parkin, who had lived in the village 30 years when the shop first opened. They said: “We already knew a lot of people through school, church, cricket club and playgroup, but met even more new people when we volunteered.
“We did not relish the thought of Gawsworth having no shop and were both able to devote time to working behind the counter and behind the scenes jobs. It’s a valuable amenity that helps newcomers settle in Gawsworth.”
Ray Shaw, who helped set up the community shop said: “I made new friends.
“It was a great transition between full-time paid work and full retirement that was particularly rewarding.
“I was helping make a positive contribution to the community.”
The other 15 to be honoured were:
Shirley Campbell, Linda Dolan, Brian Fawcett, Pauline Fawcett, Louise Hamer, Carole Hulme, Christine Lockitt, Brenda Mouchet, Neil Phillips, Val Shaw, Richard Sinton, Jan Tetlow, Janet Trueman and Joyce Venables.