Radford Semele shopkeepers awarded for their part in organising Sunny Dhillon memorial day

Gurjit Ghag and her husband Gurinder , who run the village store in Lewis Road, have been among the organisers (of whom others are pictured right) of the Sunny Dhillon Memorial Fund Fun Day which has raised funds for groups and organisations in Radford for the past five years in memory of their nephew who died unexpectedly at the age of 25 in 2008.

As a result, the couple received two awards - The Unsung Heroes Award from the Independent Retail Magazine and The Community Award from the Betways Cash and Carry group - at ceremonies in London.

Mrs Ghag said: “This was their way of saying that we have done that extra bit for people.

“It’s nice to have some recognition.

“We probably would have done something even if Sunny had not passed away but we don’t let the reason why the event was set up upset the day it has always been fun.”

The event, held in the village each summer, has supported the village school, scout group, its nursery and the Stagecraft drama group.

It has also raised £10,000 towards a fundraising £26,000 goal which will be used to improve the village’s play area.

Mrs Ghag said the event will now skip a year in order for fundraisers to focus their efforts on getting the funding for the playground with the aim of an unveiling event for the new equipment taking place in 2016.

She added: “We want to keep the momentum going but for now we are saying let’s leave it for a year, use the money we have raised so far and get that playground equipment in.”

Find The Sunny Dhillon Memorial Fund on Facebook.