Argyll and Bute Council is benefiting from Scottish Government funding, delivered through Scotland’s Town’s Partnership, to support eight towns across Argyll and Bute to promote a shop local message.
The council will work with Community Links to talk to local communities and businesses in eight towns to generate shop local artwork and messaging ideas that represent the distinct characteristics and offering of each town.
The towns involved are those currently without Business Improvement Districts (BIDS):
- Ardrishaig
- Bowmore
- Campbeltown
- Helensburgh
- Lochgilphead
- Rothesay
- Tarbert
- Tobermory
Over the next few weeks, there will be opportunities for local communities and businesses to contribute their ideas for a local poster campaign to encourage people to shop local.
Staff from Community Links will contact community organisations and businesses to get their views. Based on the views and ideas gathered, Community Links will produce a brief for a designer, who will then produce a draft poster for each town, and the banner for Argyll and Bute.
The decline of the high street in Scotland’s towns has been a matter of public concern for many years. A falloff in local shopping has negative economic, social, community and environmental consequences. The impact of COVID 19 could mean that new shopping habits developed during lockdown further reduces footfall and income to local shops.
There is therefore an urgent need to encourage people to shop local. The Scotland’s Towns Partnership funding will pay for shop local posters tailored to each town. Local community and business input will help to shape the design, look and feel of your town’s poster and a banner for Argyll and Bute.
Councillor Alastair Redman, Policy Lead for Economic Growth, said: “Shopping locally is something that I believe passionately in. We have fantastic products on offer here in Argyll and Bute, ranging from locally grown and reared produce to artisan crafts. Supporting our local businesses makes sense for our local economy and keeping people in jobs. I would urge as many people as possible to get involved.
“This also reflects the commitment the council has to investing in our town centres through our various Conservation Area Regeneration Schemes and Townscape Heritage Initiatives. These are making our towns more attractive places to live, work and visit for future generations.
“While the funding enables us to focus on eight towns at the moment, we can all do our bit to shop locally wherever we can and support local businesses.”
Colin Duff, the consultant leading on this for Community Links SL, said “We’d love to do this face to face, but because of COVID, it’s going to have be online and on the phone. A short life website www.shoplocal-argyll-bute.co.uk will allow local people to keep up to date with opportunities to contribute. We’re going to ask existing local organisations to help promote it through their networks and social media too. If anyone reading this wants to contact me, then my email is colin@communitylinkssl.co.uk and my mobile number is 07784 357 303.”