wargrave pic story 270525

A FAMILY who run a convenience shop in Wargrave was presented with £3,500 by the village community.

Chris Cordrey, of Victoria Road, launched a campaign last month to recognise the hard work of the Sreemurthy family, who marked 25 years of running the A and I Store in Wargrave.

He was prompted by Clare Chandler, a teacher at Maiden Erlegh School in Reading, who lives in the village. About 30 residents attended the presentation on Saturday, which more than 100 people had donated to through a JustGiving campaign.

It was also set up to help the family with the challenges they face after one of their sons, Malavan, became ill and they were required to balance hospital trips for him while managing the shop.

Mr Cordrey wanted to run it on the community’s behalf as a thank-you to the family.

Thangarajah Sreemurthy, known as “Murthy”, and his wife Praba have two other sons, Kaidran, 26, who works as a highways engineer in Slough and Shamthan, 32.

Wargrave councillor Marion Pope, of East View Road, presented the couple with a basket of flowers as a thank-you for supporting the community.

Cllr Pope said: “It means a lot because without the shop, we wouldn’t have the facilities. Elizabeth Court for the elderly is down there and they obviously need the shop.

“We all need the shop because unless you have to go somewhere like Waitrose or Tesco, they do everything.

“You get to know them as a family over the years and they are so lovely.

“They have been through a lot in the last few years with one of their sons who is very ill and they’ve had to cope with travelling to and from hospital.

“During covid, they were fantastic because you could ring them up and they would deliver your order to your door, which would not happen in a lot of places. They work long hours and they are always so cheerful.”

Speaking at the presentation on Saturday, Mr Cordrey said the village has “so much” love and affection for the family. He said: “I thought it was well worth recognising what they have done for us. It’s amazing to see how times have changed over the years.

“We were entering the millennium and we had the Sreemurthy family arriving in Wargrave.

“They’ve always been there with the Sri Lankan smile which is just great — providing us with supplies, groceries and the little things we forget at the last moment.

“We should not forget that this is a lifeline for those in Wargrave.

“This is a wider ‘big’ thank-you from the community. Congratulations to you and your staff for 25 years.”

Praba Sreemurthy said she felt “really lucky” to see the community rally together to support them.

She said: “I’m really surprised, I can’t believe it has been 25 years. It’s a really great community and we are really, really lucky.

“They are really supportive and we have really good staff.”

Thangarajah Sreemurthy said the community had supported the family through a difficult time, for which they were very thankful.

Kaidran Sreemurthy said: “We felt lucky because Dad drove past this one day and he saw the shop on sale and thought, ‘why don’t we start here’.

“Without the community, I doubt we would have lasted. It shows how much the community appreciates us and vice-versa.”