Long-serving Trewoon postmistress Sally Bourton has been named in the Kings’ Birthday Honours in recognition for services to her community in Cornwall, near St Austell.
Sally has been at the heart of her village since she became postmistress in June 2000 and she will be presented with a British Empire Medal.
As well as being a first class postmistress with great customer rapport, Sally has greatly enriched the lives of people living in the Trewoon area by organising fundraising activities and community activities.
During Covid, Sally was instrumental in pulling together a list of volunteers who were willing to help the community and to distribute leaflets across the village. To help keep up spirits up during those difficult times, Sally also organised socially distanced sing-a-longs in the evenings.
The hard-working postmistress made time to organise big celebrations for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and the King’s Coronation and ensured that every child in the village received special coins to mark both momentous occasions. These Royal celebrations were a fun way to involve the whole village and were greatly enjoyed by all age groups.
Sally and the community went all out to mark the Queen’s 70 years’ reign with a Party in the Park event including St. Newlyn East Band performing along with other singers and a magician. There was also a ‘decorate your house front’ competition and a ‘best dressed scarecrow’ competition.
For the Coronation Sally helped to put on a big community party with fun and music for all the family with an Abba tribute group band as the main attraction. The Village Hall in Trewoon, of which Sally is joint secretary, also held a Coronation lunch with free buffet lunch and sports for the children.
Sally also heads up a team of charity fundraisers who have raised many thousands of pounds over time. They have donated funds to the local hospitals including I-pads for patients, bought a specialised bed for a disabled person in Trewoon, purchased a special wheelchair for a young boy in the village and raised money for another child in the village to go abroad for sight-saving eye surgery.
Trewoon Post Office acts as a type of local food bank, with various food items, bread, vegetable being dropped off and villagers can just come along and collect. Sally also co-ordinates a clothes collection box for vulnerable people.
Alongside this, Sally, is very pro-active within her business. Her latest project has involved turning part of her post office into a community hub. Sally and her fundraising team successfully applied for grants to make this happen. The community hub is where regular visitors, such as Cornwall Councillor, Barclays Bank, iSight Cornwall and many more use for local consultations.
“I was so surprised to get this Kings’ Birthday Honours award. I was so thrilled, but it was so difficult keeping it quiet from my family, including my husband. I love my job as a Postmistress and my customers are like family,” Sally said.
“I really like to get involved in fundraising and organising community events. Because I know so many people in the village I’m in a prime position to encourage customers to volunteer, whether it be for helping the elderly and vulnerable during the pandemic or putting on a Royal celebration. None of these events, volunteering or fundraising would be possible without a team effort.”
Post Office area manager, Cathryn Gee, said: “I am absolutely delighted that Sally has received Royal recognition for all of her great work serving her Trewoon community. Nothing is too much trouble for her, her customer base is loyal to her and above all she cares about each one of them. Sally really proves that the Post Office has such an important social position and is integral to many customers lives.”
