Remember To Shop Locally At Christmas Time

Dear Reader

The countdown to Christmas is well and truly on, so if you're a bit of a last minute person - who puts off until tomorrow (or the day after, or the day after that...) what can be done today, then you only have 20 more shopping days left before the big day itself to get your loved ones gifts. You may be an arts and crafts sort of person, which if you are means you still have time to make gifts like homemade candles for your favorite people this Xmas or you could cook some thing up in the kitchen like jam and put it in an attractive jar and add a gift tag to it etc...however if like myself, you have not been blessed with the practical ability to produce homely gifts and your culinary skills only extend to being able to hard boil an egg...(soft boiling an egg in my world is an intermediate cookery skill and I'm still only at the extra simple level of cooking) then it might be better if you purchase Christmas presents for your nearest and dearest ones.

It can be tempting to buy all things Christmas online and many people do this but surely you or I can muster up the energy to travel the local distance to Blandford town centre to do some of our Christmas shopping. When you or I shop locally and purchase from the smaller non globalised local shops we are actually putting money back into the heart of the town, which means small businesses in Blanford can maintain a semblance of economic independence and  local jobs can be protected.  When you or I buy locally, Blandford town centre as we presently know it will continue to exist in it's current form as opposed to shops in the town centre lasting only five minutes, ok I may be exaggerating  - let me say 3 - 6 months instead - and it's also probable that shop premises will start to become empty and boarded up. So by making a concerted effort to buy from local shops this Xmas, you and I really will make a difference to the small microcosm of Blandford.

Until I write & you read again...x