Shop locally; go by bike

A grant-aided video has been produced to promote the concept of shopping locally in Calderdale. Produced by cycle-friendly video production firm White No Sugar aims to show how £10 spent locally benefits the local economy by £50. This concept – revealed in ‘Plugging the Leaks’ from the New Economics Foundation – is called The Magic Tenner and is part of the campaign toolkit from Totally Locally, a national ‘shop local’.

White No Sugar shot the film for Pennine Prospects, a Calderdale business group.

"The more everyone spends within our area the stronger our economy grows, which means more jobs, better facilities, a vibrant town centre and a nicer place for us all to live," states the blurb for the film.

"If you compare this with buying online and outside the area – where none of the money comes back into the Calderdale economy – it seems to make sense really. Add to this a smaller impact on the environment due to less transportation and you have good reasons for keeping your purchasing Totally Locally.

"Only by following the money trail do you get a true sense of the knock-on effects of buying Totally Locally Calderdale. It takes you in all kinds of directions, ping-ponging from groceries and clothing, to tradesmen and accountants, each time adding to our economy."

‘Tale of a tenner’ starts with £10 spent in Blazing Saddles of Hebden Bridge, with a mechanic heading out to spend the money in a coffee shop (expensive espressos in Calderdale…) and then the tenner gets spent around the area, and always by locals using bikes.