Well you wait for a Totally Locally Market, and just like buses, 2 come along at once!

First off is a new venture for some of the businesses in Sowerby Bridge (home of Totally Locally Towers) who have got together to make their town that little bit better. So on the 19th August the Totally Locally Sowerby Bridge Market will roll into town. Loads of local producers and businesses will be there, with entertainment, food and beer & wine tasting, crafters, buskers and get this – a huge outdoor screen showing movies throughout the day. In the evening the screen moves down to the Wharf (canal basin) where Dirty Dancing will be shown followed by The Italian Job (original Michael Caine version of course!).  The whole thing kicks off in the Market Car park by the canal, and is just what Sowerby Bridge has needed for a long time. Come along and enjoy, and support your town.

Then the big daddy of them all. The unbelievably popular Brighouse Totally Locally Market on Saturday the 25th. This one needs no introduction to the people of Calderdale – over 60 stalls, packed with food producers, crafters, drink everything from a 30 mile radius of Brighouse. Have a look at the previous article on here to get a good idea. All put together by the Brighouse Business Association,

So here’s to 2 great towns, with great people doing good things for the place they live. Can’t say fairer than that.

A little explanation how all this works.

Totally Locally as a brand has a great recognition in Calderdale (and now nation wide), and people equate it with honesty, quality & all things local. So when something like the markets attach the brand, it makes it a lot easier to get people excited about it, and ultimately turn up.

And the fact that Brighouse has been so successful, helps Sowerby Bridge to get more people to come along. It’s not about competition between towns – it’s about independent businesses and towns thriving in the face of big corporate International businesses.

It’s our small contribution to making our towns better places to live. So we let people use the brand for free, and we help design all marketing material and work with the towns to promote through social media, press etc. We do this all for free. We don’t book stalls or organise road closures, that’s up to the towns – we just let towns trade on the work we’ve been doing & connections we’ve made over the last 4 years to benefit their town. If at some point later a town decides to drop the brand that’s ok, because we feel our work is done.

Get yourselves there!  Smashing stuff….

Totally Locally Shop and Grocery

F Mill, Dean Clough, Halifax

The basics

We are offering you the opportunity not only to work in but also share in the ownership of the NEW Totally Locally Cafe & Grocery. We have vacancies for both full and part time members. (more…)

Don’t miss The “Award Winning” (we like saying that) Totally Locally Brighouse Market this weekend (28th April).  Lots of amazing local food, crafts…… oh you know the stuff. If you don’t, take a shufty at the video on the front page of the main Totally Locally site, shot by the lovely Nicola Harris.

So this is the spring version – bigger, better, warmer (hopefully!) and just a nice time to be had by all. Get yersens down!

We do like a birthday at Totally Locally! Blazing Saddles in Hebden Bridge will be turning a ripe old age of 18 soon, and what better way to celebrate this milestone than with a good old knees up… cycling that is! They’ve got a right nice day planned and with a very lovely local theme… with a guided bike ride, locally made cakes, and two other wonderfully local companies will be there in the form of Orange Mountain Bikes (Halifax) and Singletrack Magazine (Todmorden). We’ve got some of the best cycling terrain here in Calderdale so it’s a little but wonderful that these 3 brilliant businesses are right on our doorstep, so let’s help blazing Saddles celebrate such a feat and let’s eat, drink, [cycle] and be merry!

www.blazingsaddles.co.uk

(01422) 844435

35 West End, Hebden Bridge, HX7 8UQ

A big Totally Locally welcome to Anna Akesson of Willow Wellbeing, who has joined the lovely array of businesses within the Piece Hall.

Having started training in Reiki in 2006, she has gone on to gain skills, experience and knowledge, which has allowed her to improve her abilities and services. She now offers Reflexology, Aromatherapy, Swedish Massage, Reiki and Magnet therapy. (more…)

We have just got wind of  a new venture in Rastrick called LoveBread and what they are up to as they start out their journey into bringing fantastic organic bread to people in the region.

They are holding a Big Bake event. It is in aid of Sport Relief and as well as fresh bread baked on the premises on the day, there will be Ivy House cheese and honey, Villa Farm shop and Lippylicious cupcakes.

Carole Roberts from LoveBread CIC let us know a bit more…
“The bread is by our new social enterprise, LoveBread, and we are hoping that some of the children we have taught bread baking to are going to help prepare and sell the fresh bread. We have run 4 workshops so far, had a tasting at Ryecorn Whole Foods in Brighouse and after the 24th March, our next event will be the Totally Locally market. Seems there is a demand for fresh bread, and we use Yorkshire Organic Millers flour so trying to keep it all local.”

Well worth a look we think…and the best of luck in their community owned venture. Could well be a future Totally Locally Hidden Gem.

So… we had an idea to do a monthly Totally Locally Offers email campaign.

We reckon we can reach at least 10,000 people in Calderdale through our contacts. If we do it right and if everyone chips in it would go viral and that should take us up to 20,000 quite easily and quite quickly. And it won’t cost anyone to put their offer on there or anyone to redeem the offers (we’re nice like that!).

We’ve been working on this for a while. We have a big mailing list. But more importantly we have some big supporters who have a LOT of people who work with them, and on their own mailing list. And they’ve all said they’ll pass this on.

In essence it’s like Groupon, but specifically for our area, specifically for our great independent shops.

The difference is the more that each person involved passes it on to their friends, via email of facebook, twitter etc, the more EVERYONE benefits.

So shops – if you’re on there forward it to your email list. People, send it to your friends.

Any thoughts on this would be brilliant. Anyone who wants to distribute it to their group etc please let us know. Any business who wants to be in the next one drop us a line. Lets get going people.

(PS thanks to the shops who jumped aboard first, sailing these unchartered waters!).

The latest offers are HERE

Come to Hebden Bridge for your Christmas shopping and take part in the Festive Fandango. Request your Festive Fandango sticker whenever you spend £5 or more in any independent shop, cafe or restaurant. Collect five stickers from five different places, hand in your completed Festive Fandango postcard in to The Visitor and Canal Centre and you’ll immediately be given a Hebden Bridge voucher book, packed full of fantastic offers to use in the town throughout January. Every entry is entered in to a prize draw to win dinner, bed and breakfast for two at Moyles, a luxury, family run hotel… you can use the prize yourself or appear extra generous when you give it as a gift to a friend.

Another nice piece on the Brighouse Christmas Market in the Halifax Evening Courier today!

The hard work and effort of retailers in Brighouse has paid off as the town has been cited within the top five places in the UK with the most positive change in shop vacancies since 2010.*

Brighouse has been so successful in attracting more new businesses to the town that it has significantly reduced its shop vacancy rates over the past twelve months.

A tremendous achievement and reflecting the hard work and commitment of many of the existing and new retailers to increase the profile of the town and thus encouraging extra people to visit and spend their money in the stores.

New businesses to Brighouse since 2010 include The Pot Spot, Rhinestones/Axznt, Peter David Properties, O.W.L.S, MisDress, Evie Rose, Room for Yoga, Venus Nails, Boyes and Store Twenty One.

Lesley of Simply Flowers in Brighouse, comments, “A couple of years ago there was a lot of negativity in the town, we lost a major name in the shape of Woolworths and there were a significant number of vacant retail units.

“As a town we have all worked together to improve awareness amongst the local community of the fantastic range of products and services available on their doorstep.  This in turn has attracted new businesses to Brighouse and helps to keep the local economy thriving.  The diversity and range of shops that have been attracted to our town is one of the reasons that we have been able to achieve such significant shop vacancy reductions and we hope that with the support of the community that this will continue to gain momentum.”

Projects like the Totally Locally Market have helped to focus people’s minds on what’s great in Brighouse, and when the markets came to town, lots of the towns shops had their best ever Saturdays. But even more interestingly, armed with their free maps highlighting shops in the town (given out on the market days) the following Saturday was even better, as was the one after that! So yes, it goes to prove our theory people WANT to support their local shops, they just need a bit of a hand to show them how to do it.

So credit to Lesley, all the shops that have started working together, Buy it In Brighouse & all involved in the Totally Locally Markets. It just goes to show if people work together good things can happen.

How good is this!!!!

We finally got round to uploading this article! From May this year. better late than never, which it usually is!

The local shops that have won their own store war

Published on Tuesday 24 May 2011 06:00

Forget Mary Portas, the revival of the Great British high street is already under way in Yorkshire. Sarah Freeman reports. Chris Sands doesn’t have much in common with Mary Portas.

For a start, they live at different ends of the country, she in London, he in Sowerby Bridge. Harvey Nichols, the shop Portas helped to rebrand, is not somewhere the trend forecaster spends a lot of time. (more…)

Well it has been a little while in coming and a bit of technical effort at our end but here are the three videos that we showed at the awards ceremony which should look fine in terms of quality on most devices.

Totally Locally – Stand

Music: REM – Stand

Totally Locally – Town

Music: The Eels, Last Stop: This Town

Totally Locally – Roger Harvey Satellite Link

Just in case you missed the awards the first time round here is the script that Nigel and Chris were supposed to follow during the awards ceremony so you can see what we said about each award. The list of award winners are under the main menu bar above cleverly entitled, Awards 2011 if you just want the highlights. (more…)

Nearly there…

Well the awards night is nearly upon us, the line up for the night has taken shape and the trophy makers are poised with their stencil, engraving, marking out type things waiting for the close of nominations on Sunday.

Entry to the awards part of the night is free but there is a lot of interest so it would be great if you could let us know if you want to come (and how many people) in the form below…that is if you haven’t done so already.

The people’s choice awards are still too close to call at the moment so we will not know ourselves until Sunday as to who has been the most popular choice.

Hope to see lots of you there.

Well the nominations for Calderdale’s favourite shops and cafes have been flying in thick and fast and well several hundred shop and cafe recommendations from all towns in Calderdale. The breadth of recommendations is amazing and is unearthing new Hidden Gems in the process for us to talk about in the coming months.

The format for the Awards ceremony has changed a little and we will post up the details shortly as a new post. It is still the same night though.

In addition to the favourites that are being voted for there will be a number of other awards on the night for categories such as Totally Locally Newcomers, Total Local Heroes, Most Mentioned on our Travels, Totally Locally Market Shop, Money Go-Round, and a few others…so there will be celebrations and smiles abound at the event.

It has been fascinating reading everyones comments about why they have nominated their favourite shops and cafes, there has been family block voting to rival the Eurovision Song Contest, and there has been some unusual nominations too.

We have had nominations for River Island, Next and other nationwide High Street brands…which whilst are ineligible for our independent shop and cafe awards still provide the same passionate comments about service, selection of choice and how they make people feel. This just reinforces the point that for a town to be successful it does need a bit of everything and there is room for independent local stores and the larger chains side by side on the high street. If we want to see character, convenience, choice, and high quality service I am certain that we need a bit of everything to make the High Street and Town Centres vibrant and a place for all again.

Anyway…Some randomly selected quotes and the shops and cafes.

“I love this cafe because it is pretty and very clean. The food is outstanding and the cakes..mmmmmmm..the cakes are out of this world. Helen is so lovely and so very very friendly. She made my wedding cupcakes and they were divine.” - about Lippylicious Tea Room

“Amazing work from a wide selection of local and UK artists and designer-makers and staff with a genuine passion for supporting local talent. The team are exceptionally talented at matching artist’s work to individual customers making sure they leave with the perfect treat for themselves or a special gift for a loved one.” - about the Heart Gallery, Hebden Bridge.

“The products which they sell are so scrummy and so individual. No cafe’s in the hebden bridge/halifax area offer the same as the the milk bar does. Not only do they sell milkshakes but they cater for everyones needs with a variety of different products – coffees, smoothies, milkshake, cupcakes, ice cream etc. Amazing friendly staff and lovely atmosphere!” - about The Milk Bar, Halifax/Hebden

“Andrea lets my son choose small gifts and lets him save small amounts to pay it off from 10p to 50p. This way he learns the value and the joy of giving presents. It is a great service and really teaches kids a great lesson about giving but makes it possible for them to do it painlessly. Plus her items are SO unusual and plenty of hand- made and a good range of prices.”  - about Trinkette, Sowerby Bridge.

“Pleasant, calming surroundings and great staff.” - about Togo Coffee House, Brighouse.

“The shop is a genuinely independent, family-owned, family-run enterprise. Staff are always friendly, but not just in that false way; they are genuinely nice. The shop sells things that are very unique, sourced from all over the world; not just the same old rubbish you see in the clone-copy high street shops.” - about The Friendly Dragon, Halifax.

“Good food, superb beer, nice atmosphere; great how Mark and the team have taken what used to be a horrible pub and turned it right round to become one of the best in Yorkshire. If only he’d lose the cheesy ’70s tapes ” - about The Old Ship Inn, Brighouse.

“Offers different gifts for affordable prices. Excellent customer care and quality shopping experience. Love the bubbles coming out of the top window on soap making day. Willie Wonkers Chocolate Factory eat your heart out.” - about The Yorkshire Soap Company, Hebden Bridge.

“It is totally vegetarian. Meals are delicious, freshly cooked using local and organic produce. The home-made cakes are great too. There is a set menu and always other options on the blackboard. Spoilt for choice! ” - about Ginger Cafe, Halifax

FOOTNOTE:

We will produce a complete list of nominees and comments after we close the voting (on Sunday 26th June) which will be released on the actual awards night…We then intend to visit all of the shops and cafes to make sure that they see what a good job they have been doing and will publish the comments etc in a special Totally Locally Times and feature them throughout the website and on our Facebook page.

We will have one more award update next week where we will list all of the shops and cafes voted for to date…there may even be some clues to potential winners…so stay tuned.

Thanks so far to those who have voted…and if you haven’t…get your skates on.

Totally Locally Nigel.

Well we have been really surprised at the number of entries already for the Totally Locally Awards so far, and we haven’t even send out the postcards and posters around the towns yet.

We have had some great entries, and more importantly great comments about the shops and cafes in Calderdale. The best thing is that it has made us want to try some of the places we have never been to or tried before…which is also kind of the point of the awards. It is about celebrating the great things in Calderdale, and we do have a wealth of great quality independent shops and businesses in the area.

What You Are Saying

Here is a flavour of some of the things people have been saying:

“No pressure selling, fantastic products, and honest advice.”

“The shop is magical – our family loves it and we always visit…”

“…just so different to any high street shops you come across…”

“It’s beautiful! & Inspiring. With friendly, personal service & attention to detail.”

“always a cake to cheer away the calderdale wind n rain.”

“…a fantastic ambassador for promoting local creative talent…”

“The shop it self is very boutique set out almost like a bedroom.”

“Quality local ingredients, and it’s such a rare pleasure to find a menu that is totally vegetarian.”

“In an era of chainstores and DIY giants, this shop is a gem to be treasured.”

“…is great for Coeliacs! Unique in Halifax for this so far as I am aware”

Some Nominees

Nominations so far (in the first week only)…

Blue Mountain, Café No 5, Café Zone, Cappucino Café, Cherries Tea Rooms, Copa House, Costermonger, Dean Clough, Deli-cious, Eighteen, Gabriels, Gibbets Law Café Bar, Ginger Café, Great Bear Café, Jubilee Refreshment Rooms, Lipplicious, Mooch, Number 14, Organic House, Railway Station Café (Hebden), Sauce, Squeeze, Stoodley Café, The Milk Bar, The Play Café.

A Little Bit of Eden, Anon Lingerie, Collect@, Country Cousins, Crumbly Cheese, Earth Spirit, Far Barsey Farm Shop, Gallery 339, Gina B Glass, Greetings, Guitar Zone, Halo Boutique, Heart Gallery, Makepiece, Ntama Gallery, One Stop, Radiance Lighting, Risso Shoes, Stuarts Hardware, The Book Case, The Yorkshire Soap Company, Trinkette, Upperfoot Farm Shop

Thank You

It will take us a while but all of the nominees will eventually appear in our Hidden Gems section…these are all place worth a visit if you have never been. There are many more comments than listed and all will be added to the hidden Gems as part of the Totally Locally World project which is still a bit under wraps but will be “outed” very soon.

The comments really are fantastic and include personal praise for shop and cafe owners that is genuine and heartfelt, there is praise for great local food and just fantastic service that a lot of people have forgotten can exist in a shop and a lot of the large chains now seem to ignore.

If you ever feel that Calderdale is lacking in terms of quality then give me a shout and you are more than welcome to come down to Totally Locally HQ and you can read through all of the comments…I would be surprised if they didn’t stir something in you to go and visit some of the ones you’ve never been to.

Street Cafe, Brighouse

Well the day of the very first Totally Locally Market in Brighouse was an astonishing success! The day dawned sunny (if not a little windy) and everyone was a little bit tentative while setting up. The main worry – would anyone actually turn up?!?

But turn up they did – in their droves! From 9 o’clock onwards the only worry people had was were they going to have enough stuff to sell! There were 27 stalls, selling everything from cheese to chocolate, locally reared meat to artisan bread, paintings to hand made toys, Pakistani & vegan food to plants and coffee. And everything was from a 30 mile radius of Brighouse (that’s the official definition of ‘local’).

If you think Brighouse hasn’t had a street market for many, many years, and the fact that there were many people who said “it will be a flop, no one wants this”, it’s a credit to all involved and all who turned up to support it. It also shows that people want something different and different ways of shopping (we had a lot of scathing comments about one particular supermarket in particular – we’ll leave you to guess which one!).

It’s hard to describe the buzz, but it really had the feel of a manic continental market in the sun.

Pexteniment cheese ran out of stock at 12 oclock (we were open until 3!), and he had brough 2 1/2 times what he would normally bring to a market like this. Villa Farm Shop had to go back to their farm four times to fill their huge van – luckily it was only a couple of miles away, and Hartleys bakery restocked their stall three times from their bakery around the corner, and had to then go to their Huddersfield shop to get more!

There’s loads more anecdotes like this, but the bit that we liked the most i that the shops of the town also benefitted tremendously. Parfitts Bakery said they had never has a Saturday like it & Custance Butchers (who ran a barbecue at the side of the shop) said they were thrilled with the day. Even Czerwicks, who said he thought he may be down on sales, as the market was selling similar things to them, said they had a fantastic days takings!

Elphin Soap, Todmorden

A lot of this was down to a map of shops and their offers of the day produced by Lesley and her team. There was 2 for 1 offers, free wine & beer tastings, and 20% offs etc. The whole town got behind it and when everyone works together, good things happen.

Hartley's Bakery. Brighouse & Lindley

Funny bit as well – a lot of people parked in the Tescos car park, then crossed over the main road to the market. This has caused a bit of trouble with the local authorities who at first said the market would not be able happen again as “too many people went! The pedestrian crossing across the road was so busy it caused big traffic delays”. When the amazing press coverage and overwhelming support from the public  happened a week later they swiftly changed their mind!

Parsnip, Vegan Foods, Leeds

So here is a great example of how to drive people to your town centre. A small group of dedicated people with the support of the shop owners of the town, working together daring to push a little bit harder to get things done. With a bit of passion, support and willpower from the shops, local press and people of the town, one event like this can really start people re-thinking their towns.. And you know why it’s that easy? Because they already want to love where they live – they just need something to point at!. Add some good publicity beforehand (and a little Totally Locally magic) and watch it fly.

The Best bit? Everybody wins – the market stalls, the local shops, the town itself and the people who live there. If you want to run a Totally Locally market in your town give us a shout. We’ll help you throughh the pitfalls and give you  all the marketing material for free (because we’re nice like that!).

Daisy Bank Sauces, Brighouse

The star of the show however was Lesley Adams of Simply Flowers, who was the driving force to getting the whole thing done. She had lots of hassle, but kept on going, just because she wanted to see her town buzzing. People like Lesley make a huge difference.

Lesley, Organiser of the Market, with one of the many signs we had to run round sticking on stalls!

Next Market in Brighouse – By popular Demand (that sounds good doesn’t it!) 27th August.

Polish Dancers (from Brighouse!).

Totall Locally Nigel on the TL Stall. Nice shirt Sir.

A BIG thanks to Lesley, Brighouse Business Initiative, Buy It In Brighouse and John Walker & his team at Calderdale Markets. See you all soon!

Ahoy There! - there be treasures......

With a keen eye on the weather, Brighouse is getting in gear for their Totally Locally Market on Saturday 30th April. And with this being all about Local Shops, There’s a map showing all the great shops in the town and all their special offers for the day. You can download a printable version here Market Day Deals Map

Champion!

Makepiece Sample Sale at Heart Gallery

April 18, 2011 by heartgalleryblog

Sample Sale at Heart Gallery

Woven dress

Woven shirt

Woven trousers

Herringbone tweed woven skirt

Make sure you get down to Heart Gallery early on Monday 25th April as prices are starting at only £10 so these garments will not hang around for long!

We’ve been sneakily designing and producing some very nice looking bags for Sowerby Bridge, and here’s a sample for you to peruse. Designed by the Totally Locally peeps and produced by Packaging World of Sowerby Bridge (of course), no self respecting Bridger should be seen with their shopping in anything else. Also good to send to ex-pats abroad. Watch while other towns look on in envy. Go on – e brave and even use it in Hebden!

They will be distributed to shops very soon, where you can buy them for a mere pound, or whatever you think is a suitable donation. Because all the money will go back to buying more bags, or to other projects in the town. So you get a nice bag and a nice warm glow knowing that you are helping our town. If you are a shop and you’d like to stock these marvelous items, contact Heather at the library, or email : info@totally-locally.co.uk

ELLAND TUESDAY 5TH APRIL- 6PM LIPPYLICIOUS CAFE Victoria Rd, Elland Getting Totally Locally In Elland @ Lippylicious. A swift get-together on how to benefit from Totally Locally, marketing for your business, and a bit of time for businesses to share ideas and start talking. Using what we know has worked in other towns as a basis. It won’t be a long do, and you should come away with some good stuff, and having sampled some nice cakes! Lippylicious 6pm.

BRIGHOUSE, 30TH APRIL.

Well how about this then.  A Totally Locally Market, the day after the Royal Wedding, running through the centre of Brighouse!

It will be mainly food and crafts – all produced within a 30 mile radius of Brighouse, so expect pies, cheese, breads, artworks, jewellery……. you get the picture. It should all add up to a festive and celebratory atmosphere for everyone involved. There are already a lot of people signed up for stalls, so if you want one get in asap.  The roads will be closed off through the centre of town to make way for all this great stuff.

This wonderful event has been put together by Lesley Adams of Simply Flowers in Brighouse. Lesley has been a staunch supporter of Totally Locally, and in true spirit of the campaign, is putting in all this hard work because she wants to see her town buzzing on the Bank Holiday!

For more information or to book a stall contact lesley on:

email: lesley@simplyflowers.co.uk

you can download a poster to print out here >>>> brighousemarket poster

or contact lesley for a ready printed version

Well we decided to do something different with letting people know what gets talked about at Totally Locally so we have decided to release regular podcasts.

This one was the first of the year (recorded about two weeks ago – it took a while to edit and sort out the technical aspects – sorry). We will be releasing these every week to two weeks.

The podcast covers a number of things including…what is in it for people and businesses, how businesses have made Totally Locally work for them, a call to action, and my top 3 things to make it a Totally Locally top year!

[display_podcast]

Please let us know what you think by leaving us comments.

[Transcript will follow shortly]

Thanks

Totally Locally Nigel

Totally Locally started as an answer to a brief put out by Marketing Halifax. It was to create a campaign to promote great local shops and businesses in Calderdale and help to sustain them through the economic downturn. Calderdale Council’s Economic Task Force has funded the campaign in what can only be described as a very insightful move.

I’ve been asked many times how Totally Locally came to be, so I thought I’d write down the thinking behind the concept.

After being on holiday in the North Portugese town of Viana Do Castelo (my favourite place I’ve ever visited), I came to wondering how a small town, miles from anywhere else, seemed to thrive as it did.I sat in the square and noticed that the cafe owner would walk over to the bakery for bread, the baker would walk over to the accountants with her books, the accountant went to the stationers, the stationers went to the cafe and the the circle started again. It was then I realised that when everyone uses each other, the money in the town circulates round and round, each person supporting the other.

Viana do Castelo

Another thing that put me on the path was hearing Alan Sugar (Sir or Lord?) speaking at a charity dinner. He wasn’t the brash Apprentice man we all know, but a mild mannered and very interesting speaker. He said he’d met with then PM Gordon Brown and “had words with him” for having French telecom systems & Japanese computer systems in the House of Commons. GB said “We are part of a global economy and must act in that way”. Sugar said “Have you ever tried to sell anything British to the French!” And he has a point.

curmuddgeonly gentleman

Sugar then went on to say that his ideal was that when someone went into a shop to buy an apple he wanted them to stop and think, then buy a British apple. Not for protectionist or nationalistic reasons, but for the fact that if 100 people did that regularly, somewhere down the chain, an apple-grower would keep his job, which meant the post office in his village would have another customer to help keep it open, which meant that his village school had more of a chance of surviving…… You get the picture.

So anyway, the last 18 months has seen Totally Locally take over my life, which is tough when I work on other projects too, but I love it!

We have had many shop keepers tell us how Totally Locally has helped their shop or business tremendously, and that can’t be bad can it?
Some say it hasn’t had much effect, and that’s inevitable too. We’ve found that the more a business owner gets involved – the more they embrace the Totally Locally ethic (ie it’s about working together and looking out for each other, using the tools Totally Locally give out for free) the more they have benifitted. It’s just about getting excited about the whole idea, and that’s infectious.

Yes you’ll still see me in the supermarket, as sometimes there’s no option. A big wish for this area & Totally Locally is one where we will eventually have a choice of where to shop after 5.30pm.  Somewhere where we can buy locally produced food & goods which lets us support businesses from the area. I don’t like supermarkets at all, but I work long hours and often the only chance I get to shop is after 6pm. There has to be a viable alternative, and we are working on an idea. It’s a BIG idea, but that’s what makes all this exciting.

So after all that analysis I can say I’m really excited by what the people of Calderdale have achieved through this campaign. I’m proud we’ve built an instantly recognised brand in just over a year, and most of all we love to hear from people who have changed the away they shop, even just a little bit, because THEY are proud of the place they live in.

Totally Locally has grown now. We’ve become Totally Locally Ltd.  I’ve been joined by Nigel Goddard and with the recognition the campaign has had nationally & even internationally, it has given us further food for thought.

Nigel Goddard left) Chris Sands (right) Orange Bike far left (little valley brewery beer & Totally Locally Times & Ingfield pork pies foreground. Sowerby Bridge - Background!)

As a company, we’ve been asked to do similar things for other towns, so for us the fact that Totally Locally is seen as a Calderdale initiative and has so much interest around the country, puts a big smile on our faces.
The great thing is everyone benefits – the towns because we give a lot more time to them than they would have got if it were a bog standard campaign, Calderdale Council because we give them great value for money & ourselves as we now have new potential customers.

The future? Our vision is to make Totally Locally self sustaining – without resorting to advertising or charging people to be involved. With government cuts this looks to be coming quickly, but we are ready for it. Our funding & contract with Calderdale Council runs out on April 1st, but we are dedicated to keeping it running out of our own pocket. (Then again if there is some funding around….oh we could do great things!) We have some radical ideas, some using new technologies, some tapping into good old fashioned neighbourliness. The two go hand in hand.

We are looking at running on-line marketing workshops, podcasts & discussions for anyone to view, interact with & listen to for free. Also we are working on creating a network of Hidden Gems that stretches across our country and even further. We want to get businesses talking to each other on a personal level.  When this happens in a town the change will be huge. Lofty plans, but we believe that the time is right to promote independent businesses in a focused and intelligent way.
Our passion is to see our independent businesses thrive in the face of competition of national & international giants that have huge power & huge marketing budgets. Why? Because fundamentally we are a nation built on small shops and small businesses, and when they thrive, most contribute directly back into their own communities, which means our towns are better places to live. Plus there’s always something satisfying about cheering on the little guy!  We love that idea – particularly for Calderdale!

So to steal a phase from the Big T – Every Little DOES Help!

Chris Sands
(Chris runs ‘You Are Here Creative’ and was responsible for the concept of Totally Locally & all it’s elements. He has worked alongside Marketing Halifax to implement the campaign for Calderdale Council) If you want to know more about the people behind the campaign of Totally Locally & how they are working to implement it into other towns visit:  www.totallylocally.org

There was an interesting article in the Guardian this Saturday [See Here] entitled “The British High Street: RIP” which was quite a depressing article that painted a potentially sterile and bleak outlook on the future of towns in the UK.

We are extremely lucky in Calderdale as the number of empty shops that we have is extremely low compared to the rest of the country and we do not score highly in the Clone Town stakes.

The general gist of the article was how on the high street many of the chains such as HMV, Game, (previously Woolworths) are part of the “squeezed middle” and are facing an ultimately impossible task against the Supermarkets and online retailers. The outcome of the article went along the lines of a probable future choice of either higher end boutiques and lattes or pound shops, betting or boarded up shops.

At Totally Locally we are seeing a different way, something that Elizabeth Cox  from NEF alludes to in the article. (more…)

Creative Calderdale are holding another one of their fantastic get together this coming Tuesday in Todmorden. The speaker is Mark Palmer, Marketing Director of Green & Blacks chocolate, which should make for a really interesting night.

We’ll be there too,  as we’ve got a 5 minute slot to present a highly professional and well thought out (haha!) overview of what we’ve done, what we’re doing and what we want to do in the future. Come and say hello, grad some free goodies and meet some very nice people.

Here’s the official bit:

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Creative Calderdale is pleased to present Mark Palmer for our January event. Banish those winter blues with an inspirational story of success.

Mark Palmer spent his early marketing career with United Biscuits and Burger King before becoming the first marketing director of Green & Black’s in 2001. Following the sale of the business to Cadbury in 2005, Mark managed the global roll-out of the brand and is now a part time non execut…ive director. Green & Black’s is widely acknowledged as one of the most entrepreneurial business success stories of recent years.

This event is free to creative, digital and cultural industry professionals. If you would like to join us at this event please RSVP to Hannah Crank at events@creativecalderdale.co.uk.

INGREDIENTS
18:00 – 19:00 Hot Food and Registration
19:00 – 19:30 Welcome and Opening Pitches
19:30 – 20:30 Mark Palmer
20:30 – late Networking

For more information and to register for free as a member of Creative Calderdale, please visit www.creativecalderdale.co.uk

We’ve just finished putting the packaging together for the totally Locally Coffee, which will be available in the new year.

The coffee is a blend of 5 beans, and has been lovingly put together by Pete Green of 816 Espresso in Halifax. It’s been a long journey for him, and he has travelled the world studying the art of coffee, so this is something special. It’s also Rainforest Alliance certified.

Why is it a Totally Locally blend? Well apart from the growing (the hills of Shibden are yet to experience the correct amount of global warming for this to happen just yet) the blending, roasting, packaging and distribution fits exactly with the Totally Locally ethos. (Anyway who questions Yorkshire Tea?!)

A percentage from the profits go back into the Totally Locally campaign to promote the amazing independent businesses and shops we have in Calderdale, and another percentage goes to 816 Espresso’s own project, which feeds a child in a Brazilian school for one day every time you buy a coffee from them.

816 Espresso are looking to supply cafes, food shops, restaurants and businesses. They’ll even supply you with a free filter coffee machine for your offices with your first order.

The artwork for the 3 different packs (bean, ground for cafetierre / filter, and Espresso grind) are by Peter himself, Calderdale’s own Chris Mould (highly successful children’s author & illustrator) and Calderdale artist Angela Smyth (who’s work is published worldwide).

So, a beautiful coffee, helping to promote our local businesses and supporting children in Brazil, great packaging. (Plus they deliver our Totlly Locally times with your order if you like) What’s not to like?

visit www.816espresso.co.uk

The Totally Locally Campaign won it’s 2nd award last night at the Yorkshire & Humber Government Making a Difference Awards  in Sheffield. It was for “Outstanding Response to the Economic Downturn. Which is just ace. It’s just great that it belongs to everyone who has been involved, from members of Calderdale Council, Marketing Halifax, The Totally Locally team, shop owners, business owners & all our relentless footsoldiers. Making a difference to our towns!

Hidden away on the outskirts of Halifax, we couldn’t believe that this small family business has been supplying so many of the most well known brands in the world with wonderful cashmere for over 15 years – Lacoste, Hugo Boss, Paul Smith & Bentley are but a few in their portfolio of elite clientele!

Halifax was once awash with textile manufacturers but now there remains only 1, and the quality of their cashmere really does compare to the best in the world – all thanks to the experience & expertise the Kaye family has gained in the Halifax Textiles Trade that can be traced back over a century.

Heritage are the name behind the name when it comes to luxury manufacturing, but two years ago, almost by accident, that all changed when they flung open their doors for the first time and held a public mill sale. The family were so amazed with the response that they created a cosy cashmere mill shop, a real hidden gem with a truly unique range of all things cashmere!

If it’s a scarf, shawl or stole you’re looking for, look no further – it’s only a small shop but you’ll be spoilt for choice. And if it’s a piece of knitwear, well, from classic V-Necks to fashion led zip throughs, there’s something for everyone, and certainly worth a visit, if only to see in advance what the next season’s fashions might be!

Heritage Cashmere’s Mill Shop is open Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm

Also Open Saturday’s from November 6^th – December 18^th, 9am – 2pm

White Rose Mill, Holdsworth Road, Holmfield, Halifax, West Yorkshire, HX3 6SN

Telephone 01422 247800, email info@heritage-cashmere.co.uk or visit us online

www.heritage-cashmere.co.uk

COFFEE NAMING!
This may seem a bit bizarre but here goes..
Totally Locally has been asked to team up with 816 Espresso to launch a Totally Locally coffee blend. They’ve been working on a blend for months & we’ve tasted it & it’s wonderful (blended, roasted, packaged in Calderdale) A % of money from the sale of the coffee will go back into the Totally Locally campaign to help it become self sustaining, but also a percentage will go to a children’s charity in Brazil – Tea for Two – which pays for individual meals for children at a school. Each meal only costs 20p. (more…)

From now until Christmas MADE IN THE VALLEY, upstairs in Bridge Mill, will be selling a cool and creative mix of gifts, arts and crafts – all locally made.

We’ve tried to collect a real choice of items with something for everyone” say Sue and Amy Mellis, who normally use the space as a workroom. (more…)

It has been interesting in the Totally Locally office over the past day or so.

Chris and Beth went to a meeting with 2 consultants from Sainsbury’s and Lynne Midwinter (Todmorden Business Association, Totally Locally & Incredible Edible) to discuss Sainsbury’s opening up a store in Todmorden and the potential affect on the town.

Whilst I was not at the meeting and therefore can’t comment on it, it was clear that passions were running high on their return. (more…)

Emma & Joe

So here’s where we go all Cilla Black on you (if you’re under 20 ask your mum!).

Emma & Joe Crute were inspired by the whole Totally Locally buzz, and of course their own convictions, to go as Totally Locally as possible in their wedding day in August this year. Emma kindly wrote to us recently and we wanted to share this with everyone. As a couple we say they are an inspiration to us all!

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Here’s Emma’s story. (more…)

The Campaign for Real Ale’s new beer bible, the CAMRA Good Beer Guide 2011, is to be officially launched this Thursday 16th September 2010 at the Jubilee Refreshment Rooms buffet bar in Sowerby Bridge, Halifax. The Guide which lists West Yorkshire’s top real ale pubs will be launched by Mick Moss, CAMRA Yorkshire Regional Director. Copies of the new Guide will be available to the public, press and representatives of the West Yorkshire branches of CAMRA from 12 noon to 2pm.

(more…)

W.L.T.M. (that’s would love to meet – for all you who don’t use dating sites!)
We’re looking to hold an event to introduce local food producers to shops, cafes, bars and businesses in October. We’ve been told lots of times that producers find it really hard to get inroads into these places, so we thought we’d invite you all along.

It’s all going to be informal, definitely not a ‘networking event’ more a ‘Speed Dating For Businesses’ but it’ll be serious stuff. We genuinely want to help our region thrive by linking all these great local businesses and encouraging them to work together. Everyone benefits – producers from gaining new outlets and buyers by  going Totally Locally, which means great food and more customers for them.

For more information email us at info@totally-locally.co.uk or phone Beth Ward on 01422 360035

A stunning Exhibition of Iconic Graphic Design & Advertising

Although this site isn’t a What’s On guide, you sometimes see something great you wan to share with people. This is one.

Abram Games: Maximum Meaning, Minimum means
Crossley Gallery 19th June to 26th September 2010

This is an exhibition that almost anyone can enjoy. You’ll have seen some of these classic pictures in old books or design & art manuals. Here are the original pieces of artwork & a display of sketches. Displayed in the wonderful Dean Clough Gallery, so why not treat yourself to a brew & cake at the Viaduct Cafe below afterwards.

Here’s the official bit…
Born of Latvian parents in Whitechapel and effectively self-taught, Abram Games (1914-1996) was one of Britain’s most distinctive graphic artists. From the ATS?recruitment poster that is a WW2 icon, to imagery for the Festival of Britain – as well as in a host of definitive promotions for the likes of Guinness, Shell and London Transport – Games branded the public memory. This stunning exhibition was originally organised by The Design Museum and has been generously curated for Dean Clough by Naomi Games. It includes some 70 posters, sketches, original works, product designs and DVD films. Books and postcards can also be purchased.

Today our good friends at Incredible Edible Todmorden played host to Prince Charles as a part of his START tour, promoting sustainable living. (more…)

(or how to turn £10 into £50!).
That got your interest didn’t it.

There’s a bit of maths that says if you spend £10 in a local shop that sells stuff from local
producers the amount of money that goes back into Calderdale’s economy can be over £50!

(more…)

Totally Locally is launching the second part of its campaign. It highlights just how much our towns and villages rely on small businesses as their lifeblood, even in the age of supermarkets and on-line shopping.

If you scratch beneath the surface of any local business you will find lots of other local companies & people who work with and supply that business. It’s a huge web of people who are reliant on each other and support each other, which in turn affects our communities.

To demonstrate this we decided to take Triangle Emporium & Post Office, set half-way between Sowerby Bridge and Ripponden as an example. (more…)