A WEST Devon community shop has started the New Year in style, having scooped a £5,000 grant boost.

Exbourne and Jacobstowe Community Shop and Café has been given £5,000 by Devon Community Foundation, enabling it to continue acting as a local hub for residents in the village.

The facility was set up by volunteers from Exbourne and Jacobstowe Community Association when the village lost its post office and shop in 2001.

Based in the village hall, the shop is run by 35 volunteers and is open three half days a week.

It has become a popular meeting place for older residents and mothers from outlying areas collecting children from school.

It also provides a venue for outreach health and information services and holds a twice a year local food market.

Founder and member of the shop and café, Sally Hordern, said: 'The original idea was to sell bulky items for older residents who had no transport and couldn't manage on the bus, but the thing has just grown and grown — it's now so much more than a shop. 

'Living in a rural area like this can be isolating and lonely for some and the shop really brings us together and creates a great community spirit. 

'In the recent snow, we even managed to incorporate a soup kitchen and deliver it to local older people who couldn't get out.'

More than 70% of the meat, diary products and cakes in the shop are produced locally  — much of it from within a five to ten-mile radius.

The shop and café is one of over 2,000 voluntary and community groups across Devon supported by the Devon Community Foundation since 2003. 

Its grants have helped organisations from friendship clubs for the elderly to support groups for young carers.

Chief executive of Devon Community Foundation, Martha Wilkinson, said: 'The shop is a fantastic example of how we support local volunteers who are tackling issues and building more caring communities.

'Many people in our local communities are isolated, disabled and vulnerable but volunteers, with small grants from us, can play a really important role in providing frontline help to those who need it.

'In Devon there are 29 areas which fall in the top 10% of most deprived in the country, but small groups tackling local issues are often forgotten in favour of larger national charities.'

Anyone who would like to fundraise or make a donation on behalf of Devon Community Foundation can phone Martha on 01884 235887.