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I'm a Gloucestershire lad born and bred, and one of the reasons that makes me so proud is the real sense of community that exists throughout the County.

This week, Breakfast reporter Claire Carter has been visiting some shining beacons in rural Gloucestershire, with today's trip taking her shopping in Down Ampney.

The locals there run one of the county's longest running Community Shops. Down Ampney is one of 11 villages in the County that have decided to club together an army of volunteers to keep the village shops alive. The shops are not just about offering the basics of newspapers and milk - some of them have cafes, post offices, fresh bread and a library built into them as well.

As a boy I grew up taking regular trips from Cheltenham to the Forest of Dean to spend time with my grandparents and family. My Great Grandad, and in my childhood my Great Uncle, owned and ran the very traditional village shop in Bream. I remember school holidays helping to weigh out sweets from the array of glass jars behind the counter and pulling the cheese wire across the huge lumps of Gloucestershire cheese. We then hopped into the Morris Minor van to chug up and down the hills of the Forest making deliveries of fresh goodies in white paper bags. The business is no more, and the shop building is now sadly flats, so power to the people of Gloucestershire who decide to do something for themselves.