A VILLAGE shop run by 34 volunteers has been shortlisted as a Welsh finalist in the ‘Rural Oscars’.

Llandegla Community Shop & Café provides a variety of services for residents including pre-ordered vegetable boxes and a medicine box run to pick up repeat prescriptions. It also provides post office services every Thursday.

It was established in 2016 after the shop was set to be sold under previous owners. Residents held a meeting and decided open a community-run shop at the village’s former primary school.

The shop, which runs by the slogan ‘The hub at the heart of the village’ and buys its produce from local suppliers, has also become a popular stop for walkers and cyclists on the nearby Offas Dyke Path.

It has now been nominated for the Welsh village shop and post office category of the Countryside Alliance Annual Awards, the UK’s top rural business ceremony dubbed the ‘Rural Oscars’ which receives more than 18,000 nominations.

Duncan Ion, chairman of the Llandegla Community Shop & Café committee, said: “Our wider objective was to ensure an essential meeting point remained in the village as without daily contact it would become dormitory.

“It is fully integrated into the village; it is very much a natural part of the way the village works together.”

Helen Mannion, one of the managers, said: “We couldn’t do all that we do without our fantastic volunteers. Thanks to them we are able to provide an array of services on top of the café and shop, including a medicine box run, to pick up repeat prescriptions for villagers, pre-ordered newspapers and vegetable boxes.”

The shop was visited by Clwyd West Assembly Member Darren Millar, who said it is “a major achievement” to be selected as a finalist for the awards.

“Llandegla Community Shop and Café provide some fantastic services and are a huge hit with villagers, walkers and cyclists using the shop as a convenience store and café destination,” he said.

“I am delighted that the Countryside Alliance have recognised the fantastic work they are doing in championing quality local produce and providing an outlet for local producers, as well as providing a great meeting place for residents and visitors.

“The winners will be announced on Tuesday May 5 in the Senedd in Cardiff. I wish Llandegla Community Shop and Café the very best of luck”.

The Welsh category winners will compete against winners from across the UK in the Grand Final at the House of Lords in June.