A newsagent, who has been a pillar of the community for 25 years, has been recognised for her work with a hygiene poverty project which has been rolled out across the county.

Trudy Davies, from Woosnam & Davies News, Llanidloes, was recognised as this year’s winner of the Retail Innovation award at the Independent Achievers Academy Gala in London.

Judges said Trudy has made national issues work at a local level.

In addition to encouraging customers to buy items in their own containers to reduce plastic, she has created Bags of Confidence, a scheme which tackles period and hygiene poverty.

Trudy collects donations and puts them in bags in toilets at the local school, which has been so successful it’s now being rolled out across Powys.

County Times: Trudy attended the awards ceremony with her daughter Sarah.Trudy attended the awards ceremony with her daughter Sarah.

Trudy was up against finalists Ferhan Ashiq, from Prestonpans, Scotland, Dhanesh Amin from Coventry, and Anita Nye, of Orpington, in London.

“Wow, wow and more wows!” Trudy said after accepting her award.

“What a great team and support from my staff and community.”

She added: “I feel very honoured and accept this award on behalf of all my staff and customers.”

The Bags of Confidence project started in Llanidloes by a small group of volunteers to tackle hygiene poverty in Powys’ schools.

It relies on donations of toiletries from the public to give to secondary school pupils who are unable to afford essential hygiene items such as sanitary products and deodorant.

A lack of other hygiene items for both girls and boys can lead to exclusion or bullying, and the group aims to tackle these issues as well.

The UK’s top convenience retailers were announced on November 27 at the Independent Achievers Academy (IAA) Gala in London.

The gala follows nine months of benchmarking, store visits, assessments and interviews to compare and offer tailored advice to the 413 stores that took part.