It’s lovely to see the old familiar faces of our ‘senior’ volunteers back behind the counter again this month, we missed you! We have been tremendously lucky in Payhembury with the support we have had from all our volunteers who have continued to help in the shop 
throughout the lockdown and also from all the people who stepped into the breach and started helping us during that time. We recognise that now life is beginning to return to some sort of normal and everyone is busier we will inevitably lose some new volunteers but we really hope that you will continue to help when you can, you are much valued members of our team and as Anne will tell you, there is always space for everyone on the rota.
As you all know, we are very keen on stocking the best of local products in the shop. This is a policy that was greatly to our benefit during the lockdown when our local producers pulled out all the stops to keep our shelves full and our customers well fed. Everyday staples such as bread, milk, eggs, meat 
and vegetables are all sourced from within a small radius of the shop. Last month we added two new local products, beef from the Slade Barton South Devon herd in the heart of the village and Daisyland preserves which are made in small batches from home grown fruit and vegetables in Dulford.
We now have a full length screen in front of the counter to help to protect volunteers and customers and we are grateful that everyone is sensible about keeping their distance in the shop. It is a requirement for people to wear a mask while shopping although shop staff are apparently exempt from this rule. Will there have been another u-turn by the time you read this? Who knows?!
Mary Whiting
