Shop Local Saturday is a UK wide campaign to encourage people to support their local independent shops on Sat 7th Dec. Shop Local Saturday is part of a year-round campaign to encourage people to support their communities by buying from local businesses.

Our ongoing campaign to improve Myddleton Road and Bowes Park - is not just about planning regulation  if we want to improve our area we should be supporting our local Independent traders, Cafes and Shops.

We have recently had a discussion about helpful local shops sourcing unusual ingredients - and the lovely story of spending a day browsing around our local streets. Last year our efforts with "Cashmobs" demonstrated practical ways to support independent traders.

Whilst there is a call for more and better local shops and cafes one thing we can all do is to support our existing independents. In the run-up to Christmas it is the time when more money is spent than at any other time of year - and a time our local shopkeepers rely on to keep operational. We can all choose to spend our money locally and support the type of local shops we want to see more of.

Find out more about how you can get involved in "Shop Local Saturday" and spread the word on Twitter and Facebook (use #ShopLocalSaturday)

But remember this is a year round campaign to support independents - not just on one special day ... for example at the next Myddleton Road Street Market on December 15th.