Become a local super hero. Spend £5.

Freelance Copywriter Babu Basu lends his voice to the ‘Totally Locally Campaign,’ encouraging people to spend just £5 locally, each week.

The Background.

Surprise, surprise. Bad financial news is threatening to engulf us all.

Again.

But despite an overwhelming wave of fiscal fatalities and endless economic drudgery, I’m happy to report that there are still those of us who are prepared to fight the good financial fight.

Woe is me. Woe is you.

The last three years has seen the decimation of many a business – locally and globally.

Major economies seem set to disappear down precarious pecuniary precipices and many customers and traders have simply lost their way (if not their livelihoods).

Panic, panic! The end of the world is nigh.

Prices are rising, consumer confidence is falling and wages have been frozen or cut. In response to this, many of us are buying less.

According to Stephen Robertson, Director General of the British Retail Consortium,

“In July, all types of shopping locations saw reduced footfall year-on-year and that was before the effect of this month’s disturbances in England.”

In the UK, average footfall was down 1%. And in selected pockets of the UK, the picture was much worse. Robertson estimated that in Welsh towns and cities, there was shortfall of 9.2%.

The Local Data Company visited every town in England, Scotland and Wales between  January and June this year, examining trading patterns in our local communities. In the six most severely affected towns,

“…between and a quarter and a third of all high streets lay empty.”

Happily, overall vacancy rates (shop units left empty) have fallen slightly from 14.5% to 14.3%.

However, according to Hopkinson, “This means that over one in eight shops across England, Scotland and Wales still lies empty.’

So we’re ready to give up then? No, not quite.

Amidst the monetary meltdown there is still hope. And it’s something that we, the economically ordinary can do something about.

The Totally Locally Campaign was started in Yorkshire in response to the rapidly diminishing number of local, independently run shops.

Totally Locally ask us to celebrate the “hidden jewels” embracing the quality and diversity of business in their areas we live in.

So how can we help?

Drum roll please…

Just spend £5 a week in local, independently run businesses and you help to plough significant amounts of money back into your neighbourhood.

That’s it? A fiver?

Yup. That’s it.

West Bridgford (south of Nottingham City Centre) has a population close to 36,000. If each resident invested the equivalent of £5 locally a week, this would equate to a cash injection of more than £9.3 million annually!

And for somewhere smaller, like Mapperley, with a smaller population of about 7,000, that’s still an impressive spend of £1,820,000.

So how does this help me?

A valid question.

Well, a better local economy will mean a wider selection of local products and businesses available to you. For foodstuffs or plants, this may mean better quality items that are grown in season and use minimal transportation.

Local food markets, or farmers’ markets are a fantastic morning out. Not only do you get to see fresh and intriguing goods you just wouldn’t see in the supermarkets, but you also get to gorge on the most delicious produce. Foodie heaven.

In the case of services, local businesses can offer a more personalised level of service based upon a greater degree of local knowledge and greater flexibility.

And the good news doesn’t stop there.

Increased local affluence will mean lower crime rates, more employment, increased quality of life, better schools and better educational attainment.

So save your community. Spend £5.

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