A DENBIGHSHIRE “community champion” attended a prestigious event at 10 Downing Street, at which the work he has carried out for the good of his area was celebrated.

Emyr Morris has helped secure funding to purchase a village shop and post office, and to create a new community hub, in Llandyrnog.

He and his fellow committee members have progressed the Llandyrnog village shop project, aided by the £200,000 secured from the UK Government Community Ownership Fund (COF).

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James Davies, MP for Vale of Clwyd, invited Emyr to the “Local Levelling Up Champions” event at 10 Downing Street.

At the event, which was hosted by the secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities, Michael Gove, the Llandyrnog village shop was among other community projects across the UK which were celebrated.

Dr Davies said: “I am extremely proud of what Emyr, and the other directors, have achieved in Llandyrnog and how far they have come in such a relatively short space of time.

“So, it was great to have the opportunity to attend this event with Emyr and to celebrate their achievements with the secretary of state for levelling up.

“The £150million COF is for communities across the UK, providing people with the opportunity to become owners of at-risk local pubs, theatres, post offices, sports grounds and corner shops.

“When it was launched, I encouraged people in the Vale of Clwyd to apply, and was really pleased when Emyr and the other directors were successful with their application for funding to purchase and reopen the shop, install a café, and create a hub for mental health and loneliness services.

“The £200,000 landed in their bank account in October and they are now steaming ahead and hope to reopen the shop before the end of March next year.

“All of this would not have been possible without Levelling Up funding.”

Last week, it was revealed that Denbighshire is to benefit further from Levelling Up Funding, with Vale of Clwyd set to receive £20m.

In total, Denbighshire will have received £63.7m in these funds since 2019.

Mr Gove added: “James is a huge champion for ‘Levelling Up’ in the Vale of Clwyd.

“It was fantastic to celebrate the brilliant work going on across the country to level up and strengthen our communities to grow the economy.

“Meeting businesses, community groups and apprentices who have all benefitted from ‘Levelling Up’ projects and schemes demonstrates the importance of delivering long term solutions for local areas.

 “It was fantastic to meet Emyr and hear more about how his local community in Llandyrnog is benefitting from our plan to ‘level up’ this country.”