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We are very proud to present the video made by the lovely people at Pangaea TV of our Grand Opening Day. Reach for the hankies before you start watching as there won't be a dry eye in the house when the children of Ilsington Primary School start singing!

Ilsington Village Shop Opening Day Movie

July 18th 2012 was a very special day in the village of Ilsington. After nearly four long years of planning, fundraising and organising, Ilsington Village Shop finally opened its doors to the public for the very first time. It was a very proud and emotional day for everyone and the opening speeches reflected that. Tony Beard, BBC Radio Devon presenter and local celebrity cut the ribbon for us "disguised" as his alter ego, the Widecombe Wag. The children from Ilsington Primary School sang a beautiful song and refreshments were served in the hall as well as food tasting in the shop. The time capsule that was found during the building of the shop was displayed so that everyone could read the newspaper cuttings and look up the signatures of Ilsington Villagers – some sadly no longer with us – who supported the building of the Village Hall 50 years ago. The whole community turned out to celebrate the opening of THEIR shop and not even the rain could dampen their spirits:

Our new shop is well on the way to being completed and so we decided it was time to gather together all those lovely people who had offered to help at the shop three years ago when the Country Store first closed. A lovely spread of cheese and wine combined with some uplifting speeches from Alan Hobbs and Sue Norris helped answer any questions and reconfirm that people still wanted to volunteer their services. Jane and Neil Turner from Bovey Construction very kindly donated all the wine for the evening and also bought down the keys to the shop to allow us all a sneaky peak inside at progress so far. It was both emotional and exciting to see how fantastic the new shop looks. After over three years of fighting and working towards this goal, it is amazing to think that it is finally happening for real!

If you are interested in becoming a volunteer or helping in any way, please look at our Volunteer page.

Emma Schram

Please join us in wishing a warm welcome to Emma Schramm, our new village shop manager. Emma has worked in Waitrose and Sainsburys aswell as being a manager at John Lewis. She has also spent five years working in a small family-run greengrocer too. She has a great deal of experience in finance, catering, customer services, security, stock handling and administration and is also used to managing a "diverse group of people" – which we think sums up our volunteer workers perfectly! Emma's experience, knowledge and enthusiasm will make her a wonderful addition to our team and ensure the success of Ilsington Village Shop.