Local village shop keeper, Dirk Wharton, from The Shop on the Green in Burnsall, will be a popular man on Saturday 1st May. From 12 noon onwards he will be giving away free ice-cream to the first 200 people who visit his shop.

This is a unique offer because Dirk is the only shop keeper in Yorkshire to sell Brymor's special 'Soft Scoop' vanilla ice-cream, made using the finest quality milk from pedigree Guernsey cows at High Jervaulx Farm in the Yorkshire Dales.

The promotion is supported by the Look for Local scheme (see details below) which helps community-owned and village shops sell more local food and drink. Look for Local, part of Making Local Food Work, is a programme supported by the Big Lottery Fund.

Nicole Hamilton, Project Manager says: "Through Look for Local we want to increase availability and demand for local food with shops in villages and rural areas. Seventy-seven shops in England are now benefiting from the scheme and this will be increased to 200 over the next two years."

To claim your free cornet, visit our facebook here and download a voucher or call in at the shop and pick one up.

Local Shops Encouraged to Sell More Local Food

Rural shops throughout England are being urged to sell more locally produced food by Making Local Food Work.

The Look for Local scheme is inviting small, local shops, including those that are community-owned, to sign-up for free, to a dedicated shop advisor, branded point of sale material and training workshops worth up to £1000, to improve their local food offering and to get connected with more local producers. Some shops already on the scheme have increased their food sales by up to 20 per cent.

Nicole Hamilton, Project Manager for the scheme says: “Through Look for Local we want to increase availability and demand of local food, by promoting it to local shops in villages and rural areas. Seventy-seven shops in England are now benefiting from the scheme, which we want to increase to 200 in the next two years.”

Increasing local food ranges means that the sustainability of the shop is strengthened, as every £10 spent on local food generates £25 for the local economy.

(1) By making local food available to the community it increases the shop offering and gives people more choice; 65 per cent of consumers buy local food, with 40 per cent stating they would like to buy more.

(2) It also means more traceability and the availability of fresher products.

(3)Making Local Food Work defines anything grown, raised or produced within 30 miles of the shop or the county as being ‘local.’