Shop Local This Christmas Save Businesses

SHOP LOCAL This Christmas

Small businesses are the beating heart of local communities and they’ll only thrive if locals make full use of them and support them. This is truer than ever as small businesses are forced to adapt to the impact of Covid 19, many of them have become a true community lifeline. But it’s not always easy to know how we can do our bit to support local businesses. Here are some ways we can help.

Offer your support There are many more ways you can support local businesses, such as:

1. Help the high street and support the local economy Shopping at local businesses pumps money into the local economy, and by spending money in their local shop, restaurant, café or pub, shoppers can do their bit to aid our national recovery across the country.

2. Save jobs – and create even more Supporting our high streets creates jobs in local communities, supporting often young and disadvantaged people to find employment. Helping to grow the number of jobs in our local areas makes for a better place to live and work, which then creates a healthy economy for the community.

3. Great deals People might be surprised to see just how competitive the prices are in your local shops. Independent retailers often reward regular customers, while others often provide great deals that can’t be found in major outlets –meaning people save money as they spend.

4. A safe way to shop Businesses across the country have been following government guidance and implementing a range of measures to ensure people are safe while they shop, such as customer limits inside the store, plastic partitions at tills and hand sanitizing stations.

5. Preserving the heart of the community A thriving high street is key to boosting the potential of a village or town where people can socialise as well as shop. Local businesses also generate revenue to support council services such as libraries, parks and roads that benefit communities across the UK.

6. Spoilt for choice Small and local businesses often stock items which are made locally and aren’t available anywhere else, providing a great range of choice and unique products that bring muchneeded originality and variety into communities – including rare finds and items that aren’t mass produced.

7. A better shopping experience Small businesses are often run by people who live nearby. As the UK continues to recover from the pandemic, the experience of buying locally from a friendly face offers a dose of normality that many people may have missed.

8. Help the environment Local shops often source their goods locally, helping to reduce their carbon footprint. When shopping local, people are also more likely to walk or cycle to get there – doing their bit to reduce air pollution, reduce traffic and improve the quality of the nation’s high streets. 9. Leave positive reviews and share the word It’s free to leave a positive review on TripAdvisor, Google or social media and takes only a few minutes of your time, but the benefit to the business could be huge. If you’ve had a good experience with a restaurant, bar or even a product, leave a nice review to help it attract more business.

You could even go one step further by sharing details about the business with your friends and family. Word of mouth is one of the most valuable marketing tools for small businesses, so make sure to share the word.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma said: From corner shops and florists, to newsagents, cafes and pubs, our high streets are at the heart of every community in every corner of the UK.

Business owners have done an incredible job so far to welcome shoppers back safely, and I hope people across the country will do their bit this week to help our high streets bounce back to protect jobs and support local communities. Federation of Small Business National Chair

Mike Cherry said:

It’s vital now more than ever that we do what we can to support our local small businesses. The past few months have been among the most difficult that businesses have ever had and as we slowly reopen, the public can help by supporting their local businesses. Whether it’s your local grocer, decorators or florist, they all need the support of their communities in order to survive this crisis and thrive. UK Government Source

HYTHE KIDS

Find local kids clubs and activities visit our website: www.hythelife.org.uk

Winter Wordsearch EVERGREEN FROSTBITE HIBERNATE GLOVES HEATER ICICLE BRISK REINDEER EARMUFFS WOOLLEN

E R E I N D E E R Z F V W Q N E L O O W R Q E A R M U F F S O U D R G L O V E S S K P X G Y N W Q H T H I B E R N A T E B R P R G F E X K A I I C I L E D E L T T H M S J J Y F N E E J N K K L O P U R Chocolate truffles

A no-bake recipe that is quick and easy!

INGREDIENTS •100g/4oz plain/cooking chocolate •100g/4oz butter, at room temperature •275g/10oz icing sugar •Grated chocolate/sprinkles for rolling truffles in. •Optional: Pre-bought writing icing/smarties if you want to decorate.

INSTRUCTIONS 1. Put an inch or two of water in a small pan, bring to the boil and take off the heat. 2. Break the chocolate into a heat proof bowl and place over the water. A child can slowly stir this under supervision. One melted, add the butter and stir until melted. Then remove bowl from water. 3. Sieve the icing sugar into the chocolate mixture and mix thoroughly.

Allow to cool. 4. Take a heaped teaspoon’s worth of mixture and roll into a small ball.

Repeat until each ball is formed. 5. Roll the balls through the grated chocolate/sprinkles, put them in a chocolate box and you’re done with a ready-made gift for a family friend, relative or teacher! 6. If you want to decorate them with children, take a slightly bigger ball, and put a smaller one on top, and decorate like snowmen!

Are you joking?

What do you get when Santa becomes a detective? What do you call a reindeer with bad Santa Clues! manners? RUDE-olph!What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire? Frostbite!

Winter Quiz

1. What are the fruit on a rose called? 2. What’s the name of the 2020 Netflix Christmas movie starring

Forest Whitaker? 3. What did ‘My True Love’ send on the fifth day of Christmas? 4. Name the seasonal cake treat that contains marzipan. 5. What is a more common name for a toboggan?

Puzzle solutions can be found on our website: www.hythelife.org.uk

Why are Christmas trees bad at sewing? Because they always drop their needles! What kind of photographs do elves take? Elfies!