Thursday 7 June 2012

MELLS VILLAGE SHOP SCOOPS PRINCE OF WALES AWARD AT BATH & WEST

Sir Henry Elwes, President of the Royal Bath & West of England Society, presented Mells Village Shop and Café with the first Prince of Wales Award on Wednesday 30 May at the opening ceremony of the Royal Bath & West Show.

Together with an engraved crystal rose bowl and a certificate signed by the Prince of Wales, David Sheridan and June Costelloe, Chairman and Secretary of Mells Village Shop Ltd respectively, received a cheque for £1,000, to be spent on furthering the Shop’s community initiatives.

The award, a new joint initiative between the Duchy of Cornwall and the Royal Bath & West of England Society, was set up to embrace a wide range of schemes sharing a genuine attempt to bring about improvements to the lives of the rural population in a sustainable manner.  It was open to all communities across Bristol, Somerset, Dorset, Wiltshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire.

The judges praised the villagers of Mells for saving both their shop and Post Office and doing so in a truly sustainable way by building a community venture on solid commercial terms. This should ensure that it survives long in to the future, providing essential services for Mells and its nearby rural communities.

David Sheridan commented, ‘It was a pleasure and a privilege to receive this prize on behalf of our hard-working staff and volunteers and of all our customers and supporters who have made this community shop such an important part of village life.’