A big fundraising thank you to Jenny Ward who chose to donate to LNAA, the proceeds of her book about life running a Lincolnshire village shop.

Jenny has run the Donington on Bain shop for fifty years and to mark this achievement, she decided to write a record detailing the changes she had witnessed. But she wanted to ensure that LNAA also benefitted. She said: “The helicopter can help anybody at any time. It can land in fields, and near small country lanes. For people living, working and visiting villages like Donington on Bain, that is so important.”

Fifty years ago, Jenny and her husband had just sold their family farm at Goulceby, in the Lincolnshire Wolds, when they saw the shop at Donington on Bain for sale. Two months later they were the proud owners and embarking on a new venture.

For half a century the shop has remained open serving the village. During COVID and the time of lockdown, the shop was a lifeline to many, in fact, that was the busiest time ever for Jenny and her daughter as people got to know that the shop was stocked with a large variety of food when supermarket shelves were bare.

The book, entitled ‘Just ask Jenny’, records many of the changes that she has witnessed over the years. She recalls: “When we first took the shop on, we sold paraffin for heaters, until the trend changed for gas canisters for portable gas heaters, now our customers have wood burners and so we stock logs and sticks.”

The book is for sale at the Donington on Bain shop and also at the Post Office at East Barkwith.