“I DON’T like housework, so I do anything to take me out of the house.”

That is how a Bampton woman has explained becoming a true community stalwart.

Fenella Gray helped set up and now helps run Bampton Community Shop, which donates all its profits to community projects in the village.

Since it opened in 2004 it has made about £54,000 for Bampton groups, including charities, small businesses, schools and the youth centre.

However, it still came as a surprise when she was given an MBE in today’s New Year’s Honours list.

She said: “It was such a surprise and it hasn’t really sunk in yet.

“I feel honoured, but I never did any of it to win anything. I just do things to keep busy.”

The 59-year-old said she “fell into” a lot of the work – all of which she does on a voluntary, unpaid basis.

She said: “I have got friends who say ‘Oh, you must do this. If no-one gets involved it will stop’. It gets on my conscience.

“They say ‘can’t you do it for a little while?’ And then it tends to go on and on.”

Mrs Gray has also cooked for the Bush Club, a centre for the elderly in Bampton every Wednesday, and is editor of the village newsletter.

She was nominated for the award by her husband, Fred, 65.

He said: “I just think she deserves it for what she has put into the village.

“The scale and breadth of what she does is phenomenal.”