A COMMUNITY shop in Poulton has been awarded a grant of more than £9,000 by the Big Lottery Fund.

Poulton Village Shop submitted an application for the funding in March, before being named this month amongst the 39 projects in the South West to be getting a share of the £349,774 on offer.

The shop applied for the cash boost with the intention of buying new freezers and chiller cabinets in order to help promote the importance of locally grown produce.

The National Lottery’s Big Lottery Fund supports a diverse range of projects enabling people to improve their skills, meet new people and strengthen their communities.

Across England, 508 projects are sharing £19.8 million of funding through this latest round of investment.

Poulton Village Shop officially re-opened as a community shop last October and already has over 100 shareholders from the local area.

Each shareholder has one vote on decisions and pays a non-refundable fee of £50.

The London Road shop is run by volunteers, with a management committee of five people, chaired by Ruth Salaza.

Any profits that aren’t reinvested into the business are distributed back into local community enterprises, such as the village hall, playgroup or cricket club.

James Harcourt, England grant making director at the Big Lottery Fund, said: “It is great to think that National Lottery players have now raised £36 billion for good causes and it’s when you hear about projects like these that you realise the incredible impact that funding has had on communities across England.

“Whether the grant is for £500, or £500,000, our funding is used to run amazing projects led by local people. It really is life changing.”