Following an overwhelming response to its running of a classic donation scheme, a Yelverton Bakery has been inspired to continue helping others throughout the upcoming winter months.

Owner of the Dartmoor Bakery Avis Jones sat down with Horrabridge-based methodist pioneer Ali Mansfield in June to coordinate the running of a pay it forward scheme - a donation model which started in Italy many years ago that sees a person purchase food and/or drink for themselves and then another person to claim in the near future. The scheme was met with immediate success upon launch, leading Avis and Ali to expand it to cover online donations and free lunches for schoolchildren throughout August. Ali, who has strong local links, was able to help deliver donations to those who didn’t have transport of their own.

Avis said: ‘Even on the day Ali and I were putting this together, a lady overheard us talking and asked if she could donate something there and then as she wasn’t from the area. Since the first day on June 24 we’ve received total dontions of over £400 including someone from Ivybridge who donated £62 and two ladies who have bought eight children’s lunches in a week. We’ve even had donations come in from afar as Bromley in Kent.

‘The initiative really struck a chord with people who felt awful for those locally going without and wished to do something to help. This really couldn’t have happened without the generosity of our customers.’

Ali Mansfield said: ‘I personally think it’s fantastic for community groups to work in partnership together, to pull out strengths, ideas and gifts together creates a better support system for a community.’

Avis’s willingness to help others who are struggling comes from a place of empathy, having once been a single mother to young three children as they were growing up.

Rosie Jones (Avis’s daughter-in-law) attributes the scheme’s success to its visible effects. She said: ‘This is different to a contribution to a national charity - you don’t often see where your money or efforts directly go, whereas here people know others’ around them in their local area are benefitting from their generosity.’

Now children have returned to school, the free lunches option has stopped but regular donations are continuing. Avis is now busy planning different ways to help others in the community as the autumn and winter months approach, which are predicted to be tough amid spiralling energy costs.

Avis said: ‘We’d really like to do something to help the elderly. I’d love to make use of our van and do deliveries of soup and rolls to those in need. In lockdowns, we used the van to do deliveries to the elderly and vulnerable. We’re also looking to secure warm clothing such as hats and gloves by using donations given to purchase these and pass them onto the Soup Run in Plymouth.’

She added: ‘The donation process is relatively anonymous and those collecting don’t have to come up to the till, they can collect their bag from near the doorway. We’re always open to suggestions on accessibility; there is no shame in asking for help. People should never have to miss out on the basic things in life.’