Love Coleshill

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We are pleased to see you on the Love Coleshill Website – thanks for visiting!

It’s even easier to join our mailing list now:  Click Here!

What a fantastic French Market, thanks to all those who joined us on 28th April 

Congratulations to Lottie Rix who won our Children’s competition and to Kim Badcock of Remember When who won the French Theme Shop Window Competition. 

Go to Competition page for more details!

If you missed it they are around the UK – visit: http://www.franceathome.com/ and take a look!

Merci Muriel!

Download the latest Love Coleshill Spring 2013 Newsletter with special offers

 Read our latest press release

Small businesses are more likely to employ staff from the local area

For every £1 you spend, 50p – 70p circulates back to the local economy

Buying locally reduces your carbon footprint

Shopping locally retains the individuality and character of our town

Local shops support the community and provide high quality service and a variety of products

VIDEO

Watch this video for more reasons to shop locally!!!  Click Here!

This page is our blog so keep checking back for the latest news and events!

THERE ARE LOTS OF MOTHER’S DAY OFFERS FROM OUR CONSORTIUM MEMBERS – KEEP TRACK BY FOLLOWING OUR SPOTLIGHT PAGE AND ON FACEBOOK

Don’t forget to buy Love Coleshill Gift Vouchers – available in lots of shops on the high street now!

NEIGHBOURHOOD PLANNING!  Follow the link to  the North Warks Borough Council Neighbourhood Planning Site – A neighbourhood plan is a new type of plan introduced in the Localism Act. It will be the result of a community working together to decide how their local area should develop and grow in the future – for details and information visit    http://79.170.44.85/lovecoleshill.co.uk/?page_id=352.  This is YOUR chance to get involved!

We have a new weekly feature on our facebook page that highlights our consortium members individually called Spotlight - share it with your friends!  Visit our Consortium page and see who our new members are!

Would you like to read the latest newsletter?  Download your copy here: Love Coleshill Autumn Newsletter 14.11.12

You can read about our forthcoming events and the competition winners, find out the loyalty card offers that have just been launched and see how we got on at Halloween!

Our Gift Vouchers are now available to buy in values of £5, £10 and £20 from Jenny Wren Gallery, Carters, Penny Johnson Flowers, Heads, Remember When and Drinks4U.  They are redeemable in all Love Coleshill Outlets showing the red and white window sticker above.  They make a fabulous gift for friends, family, teachers, work colleagues etc and by supporting Love Coleshill you are helping to keep the high street alive!

Do you have a loyalty card?  why not view the latest special offers on loyalty cards here - if not – get your loyalty card now!  It’s free!

This time last year, the Love Coleshill campaign did not exist!  We have come a long way in a short time thanks to the support of local residents, shops and businesses and the press, boasting over 50 members to our Consortium.  The members are all listed on the consortium page and we are pleased to welcome so many new ones following our advertising campaign!

The aim of Love Coleshill is to increase the economic resilience of the town and support local businesses that are struggling in the recession.  We want to maintain the diversity of the high street, attract new businesses to Coleshill, promote increased local loyalty and ensure that the town stays vibrant and offers everything local people need.

We are working to help local businesses by liaising closely with Morrisons in the run up to their new store opening and we are also part of the Neighbourhood Plan Steering Committee which is looking at the long term future of the town.

Our last event was the Writing Competition and Halloween Crafts Afternoon:

Winners of the writing competition can be found on the Competition Page

Here are some photos from the Halloween Crafts Afternoon.  A great afternoon where we had so many scary and stylish, freaky and funny fancy dress children they filled the stage when The Herald came to take photos!

We have excellent links with all the local schools and nurseries and the full support of local MP Dan Byles who said “Love Coleshill is a great initiative, and I am delighted that they are going from strength to strength.  It is fantastic for local shops and businesses to come together like this, to support one another and to support the town.  I have supported Love Coleshill from the start.  I strongly urge any local business who is not yet involved to consider joining.”

Future events are the Christmas Market on Sunday 25^th November in the Town Hall:

Late Night Shopping Event on Tuesday 4^th December:

We are just preparing for the launch of the new Gift Vouchers too, as well as Love Coleshill Bags for Life.

We were thrilled with the support we received on Sunday 3rd June at Coleshill Town Hall – lots of people came to eat their picnic (the bigh Jubilee Lunch) and watch the pagent on the Thames.  The children enjoyed decorating crowns and cupcakes, having nails and faces painted and tattoos!  Thanks to everyone who helped and everyone who attended!

Our Street Party planned for Sumner Road will be moved inside due to the adverse weather forecast, so please bring your picnic and enjoy watching the pageant of boats up the Thames in the Town Hall on the big screen.  Lots of free crafts for the children!  Help us to create our Jubilee Mural with artist Nicky Dowd – bring along your stamps with the queen’s head on!  See you there!

We have some fantastic prizes for our Jubilee Raffle:

We have introduced our new Loyalty Cards!  Participating shops and businesses have full details now so go along and ask for yours – it’s free!.

Each participating business is a member of the Love Coleshill Consortium and they will be easily identified by a window sticker:

We hope that everyone will benefit, and our aim is to encourage people to shop, eat and stay in Coleshill so please share our enthusiasm and sign up for the Free Loyalty card – and make the most of the many special offers from Consortium members.

If you are a local business and you wish to join our loyalty card scheme please contact me, Marie Stephenson on 07985 724842 or email me: marie@the-marketeer.co.uk

New Bumper Stickers and Shopping Bags

We shall shortly be launching our new Love Coleshill Shopping Bags and Car Bumper Stickers

Our first newsletter is out!  If you are not on our mailing list or cannot get to the shops – download it here: Love Coleshill Spring Newsletter 2012

Read all the latest news and if you don’t receive this automatically: join our mailing list!  email: marie@the-marketeer.co.uk

We would like to thank all the local schools for distributing this for us – it makes a huge difference to our campaign and we are really grateful!  Thanks!!

1. Local shops sell a wide range of great products at affordable prices

Many people get out of the habit of shopping locally & are then surprised by the range of products and gifts available.

2. Shopping local saves you money – travel and parking costs etc

Out of town shops have done a good job of convincing us all that sole traders = expensive, but the evidence just isn’t there to back this up.  If you add in travel, parking costs, fees to transport larger items home and your time, the overall cost is often much higher.

3. Shopping locally retains our communities

People don’t like losing shops and services in small towns and villages but don’t equate this to how they spend their money.  Shops will only survive if customers spend locally – so if you want a vibrant town centre, where people can socialise as well as shop, shop locally.

4. Shopping local retains our distinctiveness – no clone towns allowed!  Many town centres in Britain look the same with franchises and multinationals.  Independent shops create distinctive shopping experiences and stock different products.
Independent shops keep traditional local products alive. They respond more quickly to the needs of local customers, stocking products to meet the changing population needs. They can also be more innovative…….organic products were first developed by independent traders.

5. Shopping local saves the environment

We are all aware of CO2 emissions and our environmental impact.  Local shops, which often stock a high percentage of locally sourced goods and products and do not require long car & bus journeys to get to, thus shopping locally helps to reduce our global footprint.

6. Shopping local creates jobs

Shops in our town centres and villages create local employment and self employment.  These people in turn spend in the local economy. Over half a million people are employed in retail in our rural towns and villages. Evidence shows that for every £10 spent in an independent shop £25 is generated for the local economy compared to £14 spent in multinationals.

7. Local independent shops invest more in our communities

Sole traders and independent stores are proportionally more generous in their support for local charities, carnivals, schools and community events.  So supporting local shops means a financial return for our community

8. Local shops are for everyone

Most people can get to their local shops easily and this is especially important for elderly, vulnerable and young people and those without transport.  Keeping your shops open by buying locally helps the whole community.

9. Local shops value you more

Evidence from numerous surveys shows people receive better customer care and service in local shops.  Traders survive by their reputation and repeat business – so shopping local means that you get a higher standard of service.

10. Shopping local saves services

Private, voluntary and public sector services cluster around shops. The loss of the high street often corresponds to a reduction in these services.  As shops disappear, so do hairdressers, vets, dentists etc.

DOWNLOAD THIS YOURSELF: click her: 10 reasons to shop locally