MEMBERS of Sampford Courtenay Village Hall management Committee are delighted to have received a grant of £850 from the National Lottery?s Awards for All programme.

The grant will assist with the compilation of a history of the parish, one of the major projects chosen by the committee to celebrate the new Millennium.

Stephanie Pouya, the committee member who has undertaken to carry out the research and to write the history book said: ?This means I shall be able to include more of the stories and more of the 400 photographs from the many people in the parish who have contributed so willingly to assist me in this mammoth task.

?I hope it will be a lasting memento for everyone who lives in or has a connection with Sampford Courtenay.?

The hard-back book ?The History of Sampford Courtenay with Honeychurch? will now contain up to 200 pages and is to be published by Halsgrove in the autumn of 2003.

A pre-publication flyer, inviting subscribers to the book, will come out in the spring of next year.