A MANAGER of a charity shop in Dalton who puts a smile on the face of every customer she meets has received the Evening Mail's Bouquet of the Week.

Carol Edmondson runs the St Mary's Hospice shop in Market Street but also organises fundraising events such as coffee mornings, bingo nights and fashion shows.

The 61-year-old is well known for her window displays and works tirelessly to make sure the shop is one of the most eye-catching in town.

Mrs Edmondson, of Pennington Close, Dalton, has worked at the store for three years and says the 24-strong team of staff and scores of friendly customers make her job all the more worthwhile.

She said: "What I most enjoy is the staff and customers and if it wasn't for them I wouldn't be here. It's wonderful working here.

"Everybody comes in and they will just pop in just to say 'hello'.

"I've very competitive with the window displays. I love doing them.

"There's never a day go past without somebody commenting on the window."

Mrs Edmondson was surprised with the flowers on Wednesday and said it was "quite a shock".

She regularly puts on coffee mornings, the most recent of which raised £250 for St Mary's Hospice, has held two charity fashion shows at Dalton Cricket Club and organises a stall at Cartmel Races in summertime.

Today, she is organising an art sale at the Forget-me-not Tearoom and Curiosity Shop from 11am to 3pm.

Regular customer Linda Tomlinson put forward Mrs Edmondson for the Bouquet of the Week.

In her nomination she said: "She works tirelessly for the charity, keeping the shop in superb order, making it a friendly, cheerful place to go into.

"Carol's window displays are always spot on and she sets herself high standards which she always manages to achieve. Whatever the event, Christmas, Easter, Valentines or weddings, Carol always produces a window for the town to be proud of.

"My husband and I pop into the shop almost everyday and we're always greeted with a lovely smile and maybe we'll share a joke or two."

Anybody interested in volunteering and joining the Dalton St Mary's Hospice shop team is invited to pop in and speak to Mrs Edmondson.