Award for village store’s good cheer
A SONNING convenience store has been awarded for its ‘good cheer’.
The Village Hamper, which offers groceries and pantry supplies on the village’s High Street, recently won R&A’s
Good Cheer Award for independent and community stores.
Kathy Wright opened the shop in September 2020 in a bid to ‘fill a gap’ in the village.
“I’ve lived in Sonning for 10 years and I’ve always felt that the one thing it lacks is a local convenience store,” she said.
Rather than driving to the nearest shop, she wanted the people of Sonning to be able to walk down the road to get their daily bread.
She said she was “over the moon” to hear The Village Hamper had won this year’s Good Cheer Award.
“I was absolutely thrilled — it was such an honour,” she said. “We’ve only been open for a short period of time, so it’s really amazing and the support we’ve had from the community has been incredible.”
Ms Wright said opening the store in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic has had its ups and downs.
“I’ve had to take my time and progress the shop slowly,” she explained. “We’ve had to adapt, but we’ve also proven extremely popular.”
Last month, The Village Hamper also opened its patio area and has been serving customers coffee and cake outdoors.
“The Award was very much a team effort and I couldn’t have done it without the team behind me,” Ms Wright added.
The Good Cheer Awards are hosted annually by Round & About Magazine.
Residents from across the Thames Valley and Surrey are invited to nominate their favourite pubs, restaurants, stores and more which bring “good cheer” to local communities.
“There’s clearly a lot of love out there for those in the hospitality industry who’ve worked so hard to get through the past year, even when they haven’t been able to open,” a spokesperson said.
To find out more about The Village Hamper, at 6 High Street, Sonning, visit: facebook.com/ VillageHamper