Meet the winners of the Local Retail Champions competition – voted by you

A good local shop is a joy. It’s your place for forgotten groceries, last-minute stamps, a hopeful Lotto ticket and a chat over the counter. But there are some local retailers who go all out to support the people around them.

Over the last two months we’ve been running a competition in association with Allwyn, operator of The National Lottery, to find the most community-spirited Local Retail Champions.

Hundreds of customers nominated National Lottery retailers from all across the UK, each with a heartwarming story.

But the winning local retailers who make a real difference to their local area are Natalie and Martin Lightfoot from Londis Solo Convenience Store in Baillieston, Glasgow and father-and-son team Manish and Raj Suchak who run Coldean Convenience in Brighton. Both are proud National Lottery retailers.

The staff in both shops were surprised to find out about their wins as customers kept the nominations quiet.

“I’m so proud of my shop, I joke that it’s my fourth child,” says Natalie Lightfoot who runs the shop alongside her husband Martin. “It’s lovely when other people recognise something you’re so passionate about.”

“To know that our wonderful customers voted for us gives us tremendous pleasure,” says Manish Suchak. “It’s a very supportive community in general, so anything we’re doing is just repaying that kindness.”

Manish has run Coldean Convenience since 2019, alongside his son Raj (who says he prefers to let his dad do the talking). And, as customer Carol Bryan told us, they “know most of the regular customers by their first names.”

For the last two years Manish and Raj have provided all the food for a breakfast club at the local school, donating milk and bread from their own suppliers and picking up the bill for the rest of the food.

“I heard on the radio that children were more likely to do well at school with a good breakfast,” says Manish. “And I know those children and their grandparents, their parents, their aunts and uncles. It just seemed like the right thing to do.”

For similar reasons, Manish and Raj also donate to the local food bank. They also fundraise for a nearby cat shelter. “I don’t have a cat myself, but they do sterling work,” says Manish of the Coldean couple who run it.

Local youth football club The Coldean Colts also run out on to the pitch every weekend with the Coldean Convenience logo on their shirts. The shop sponsors the team, meaning every young player has a smart kit to put on.

Natalie Lightfoot moved to Baillieston and started running Londis Solo Convenience Store when she was 24 and says she was welcomed “with open arms. I became part of people’s day and their habits.”

“It’s not about making money off people, it can’t be,” she says. “You need to see the difference you can make to people by listening to what they need or helping out by doing something like delivering to someone’s door.”

Natalie’s shop has a block of sheltered housing and she and the staff are alert to how their older customers might need extra help. “We’re often the first people to spot signs of dementia,” she says.

“When someone is coming in to buy the same pot of jam three times in one day… you know you need to say something.” She has first aid experience and has even driven people home if they have fallen.

The shop staff also love to fundraise and have done a bungee jump for a local cancer charity (“and I’m terrified of heights,” says Natalie).

Their biggest event was a pavement festival outside the shop, with music, face painting, games and a barbecue. “We had over 400 people down and enjoying themselves,” says Natalie. “We raised £3,600 for charity.”

Both retailers have won a cash prize of £5,000 and a further £20,000 from National Lottery operator Allwyn to spend on a ‘social value store makeover’ for their business, any improvement that will help the shop to further help the community.

The campaign is from Allwyn’s annual £1 million Social Value Fund as part of the company’s commitment to operating The National Lottery in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

Both Manish and Natalie say they want to give proper thought to spending the prize money and to make sure it’s used in the most beneficial way. Initial thoughts have included solar panels and a defibrillator and bleed control kit.

“It’s such a lovely thing to be able to spend £20,000 to benefit my customers,” says Manish.

Through selling tickets, National Lottery retailers have helped players raise a landmark £50 billion for Good Causes since 1994 – funding an incredible 700,000 individual projects across the UK.

Visit national-lottery.co.uk and find out more about National Lottery Good Causes