THE Seavington Community Shop and Services Association has been shortlisted for an prestigious award from national charity the Plunkett Foundation.

Villagers in the Seavingtons, near Ilminster, rallied to establish a village shop in 2010 as part of its village plan. Following a successful fundraising campaign, a purpose-built shop and café were built next to the village hall..

The shop and café now thrive providing the villages of Seavington St Mary and Seavington St Michael with the ability to shop “on their doorstep” for groceries and various local goods as well as meet for a variety of social events in the café.

The success has been entirely due to its volunteer involvement and the contribution it makes to community life.

The community’s efforts have now been recognised by the Plunkett Foundation who have shortlisted it for the Business Innovation Award category in the national Rural Community Co-operative Awards designed to recognise the very best examples in the sector. The winners will be announced at a ceremony on Thursday, June 25, in Warwickshire.

Mark Ellis, the chair of the association’s management committee, said: “When I told the management committee we were short-listed for this award they were all so proud of our achievements and how hard our volunteers have worked to get us to this point.”

James Alcock, of the Plunkett Foundation, said: “We have been overwhelmed with the response we’ve had from community co-operatives who’ve really embraced the opportunity to share their successes with others.

“We’ve had entries from across the whole of the UK and from a diverse range of models, making it extremely difficult for the judges to agree.”

Mr Alcock added: “The awards celebrate all that make community co-operatives great - their co-operative ethos, dedication to making life better for individuals within the community and can-do approach to solving problems for themselves.

“We want to say a huge thank you to everyone who applied, and also to our sponsors for their generous support.”