THE team at Church Street Stores in Morchard Bishop are delighted to announce that the shop has been shortlisted to win a Countryside Alliance Award in the Best Village Shop/Post Office category.

The Awards are the Countryside Alliance’s annual celebration of British food and farming, enterprise and heritage through our small hard-working businesses.

The awards are now in their 15th year and have become the definitive rural business award to win.

They are set apart from other award schemes because they are driven by public nomination, offering customers the chance to tell us why their favourite businesses are worthy of national acclaim.

The awards received more than 17,000 nominations this year so Church Street Stores has done extremely well to be shortlisted.

Church Street Stores opened in 2012 when the village shop at the time closed down. It stands out from many other village shops as it not only sells newspapers and essential items, it’s also an advocate for locally produced/grown goods.

It is a small but very well-equipped shop, with tables for a café area and small kitchen where the pasties, cakes and tarts are baked fresh every day, and an amazing array of gifts and local produce.

Clare Radburn-Reid (Partner) said: “We have been well supported from the very beginning. Our aim was not to compete with the supermarkets but to offer something different.

“Obviously, we want to stock the essential items, but we are big believers of stocking what is produced in Devon.

“Currently about a quarter of our stock is produced in the South West, much of that within 20 miles of the shop.

"We like to think that shopping with us supports the local economy, reduces food miles and is better for the environment.”

Countryside Alliance Awards Director Sarah Lee commented: “We have been overwhelmed by the nominations this year. The secret to the Rural Oscars’ popularity is that they honour the people involved in these businesses and not just their produce or services. They exist to sing the praises of those who work hard to keep our communities and rural economy ticking, but don’t seek the spotlight.

“These awards provide a cause for celebration in a time of great uncertainty in the countryside. Our local produce is second to none and there are many community heroes and businesses worthy of national recognition.”

Matthew Radburn-Reid from Church Street Stores added: “We were overwhelmed by the amount of nominations, and support from our customers has been brilliant, we’re obviously doing something right!”

Church Street Stores have been chosen along with three other shops to represent the South West (covering Cornwall, Devon and Dorset), the regional finalist will be invited to the House of Lords for the National Finals held in June 2020.