ABOUT TOTALLY LOCALLY
Totally Locally is something special. It’s more than a shop local campaign, it’s a philosophy.
It started out as a small idea in the North of England and has grown into a multi-award-winning worldwide movement. Groups of volunteers in towns and areas use our Town Kit, following guidelines and using templates and a full event strategy, and use it to make their town a stronger, more vibrant & resilient place. And all we ask in return in that if they come up with a new idea, it is shared with everyone else.
There is now a network of Totally Locally Towns across the world, sharing ideas, working together and making a difference to their independent businesses.
It works. It has been proven from Yorkshire to London to New Zealand. A new vibrancy, a spirit of cooperation, and a better Independent High Street.
WE WROTE A BOOK!
The best way to find about us is with a nice cuppa and a book so if you want to know more, may we recommend “The Economics of Being Nice” which is now for sale in our shop
2 years in the writing, this is a guide to our Town Kit – which includes all the materials, methodology and step-by-step guides to allow you to start Totally Locally in your town, or to inspire you to start your own campaign. It also shares inspirational stories from people who have used it to make a big difference to their high streets, and how they went on to do other incredible things on the back of it. Packed with 230 pages of ideas, stories, photos, how-to-dos and big inspiration from people we’ve met through the decade of running Totally Locally.
WHAT WE DO
We campaign for Independent High Streets & Businesses in Towns across the UK & worldwide.
We create tools for businesses, groups and volunteers to help themselves – enabling them to boost, sustain and promote independent shops, makers & producers, making towns thrive.
We encourage collaboration, we encourage no bulls**t and we encourage being nice.
We aren’t “anti-chain”, we actually believe a good high street is a mix of these and independents, we just want a level playing field by giving indies access to the kind of marketing materials and support that the big guys have.
BELOW are the main ways we do this.
There are many other strands to Totally Locally as you will find as you dig deeper. But it boils down to this…..
Love Where You Live – You Might Just Make It Better.
The Totally Locally Town Kit includes everything you need to run a successful campaign to help re-invigorate your High Street.
From how to get a first meeting together, campaign timeline, house rules, logos, images, posters, print templates, launch material, press-releases, links to open-source peer groups, lots of “how-to’s” and much more.
Our Town Kit is a framework for collaboration, it gives your group the tools to improve your town and develop a stronger collaborative community.
READ MORE
Fiver Fest is a big celebration of the small businesses and shops that make up the high streets and communities across the UK that make our towns special.
Our simple message – spending just £5 per week in your local independent shops and businesses makes a huge difference to your town or High Street!
Fiver Fest is now a national event. Each time 50-100 towns and thousands of businesses across the UK get involved.
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Magic Tenner is a national event to highlight the positive effects of spending locally with independent businesses.
When you spend £10 with an indie, up to £50 goes back into the local economy through the network of local suppliers and spending – it’s magic!
Businesses across the UK show how many other businesses they support with your spend and have great £10 offers to help you spend that tenner! This is a national event involving dozens of towns and thousands of businesses.
READ MORE
As seen & heard on/in:
THE FAMOUS £5 MESSAGE. IT STARTED HERE
The simplest of messages. Spend £5 a week in your local independent shops & businesses and it adds up to a huge impact for your local economy.
This message (which we started way back in 2010) has been adapted & adopted across the world.
Showing what the number is for your town makes people stop and think, and how change their behaviour just a little bit can have a huge impact if everyone does the same!
READ MORE>>
2 SIMPLE EXPLANATIONS OF HOW LOCAL ECONOMICS WORKS
– THE FOUNDATION OF ALL THAT IS ON THIS SITE!
TOTALLY LOCALLY NEWS
KEEPING CASH ON THE HIGH STREET
We are hearing from many places about banks’ disappearance in many small towns. It’s something we’ve been looking into, and as ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY IN BRAZIL
We at Totally Locally are really excited to announce that we have been working behind the scenes with some amazing people ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY LAUNCHED IN DINNINGTON – STRAIGHT INTO NUMBER 10
One of the latest towns to go Totally Locally is Dinnington in South Yorkshire. Volunteers from the newly form team manned ...
WORKING WITH RIPON BID
As part of our Totally Locally commissioned work we recently visited Ripon in North Yorkshire to work alongside Ripon BID to ...
MORE SUPPORT FOR INDEPENDENT BUSINESSES THIS CHRISTMAS
A new study has shown that almost half of Brits (42%) have vowed to shop at small or independent businesses this ...
THE FIVER FEST EFFECT – NOW BACKED UP WITH DATA
The hard-working team in Clay Cross have really taken Totally Locally to heart and run increasingly popular Fiver Fests in their ...
CHRIS WAS INTERVIEWED BY NICE PEOPLE FOR A NICE ARTICLE
Here’s a smashing article about the history of Totally Locally to celebrate the launch of our new book and our look ...
BUSINESS NEWS WALES INTERVIEW WITH EMMA CORFIELD-WALTERS
Here’s a great interview with Emma, as well her shop Book-ish being named as the UK’s best independent bookshop, starting loads ...
MAGIC TENNER CAMPAIGN IN BRIDPORT
The Totally Locally team in Bridport have launched a Magic Tenner campaign and have been inundated with businesses wanting to join ...
OUR FIRST BOOK – THE ECONOMICS OF BEING NICE
The Totally Locally book “The Economics of Being Nice” has launched! It’s been a labour of love, but well worth it ...
FIVER FEST MARCH 2022 ROUND-UP
The first National Fiver Fest in 2022 was a cracker! We are again bowled over by the enthusiasm, creativity and sheer ...
FIVER FEST MAPS
Amongst the many creative things towns do for Fiver Fest, one of our favourites is a Fiver Fest Map, possibly done ...
OUR FIRST FIVER FEST AWARDS – THE FIVIES!
Since Fiver Fest went national, we have been blown away by all the inventive offers and creative displays to promote them ...
DELIVERING ESSENTIALS BY CARGOBIKE IN HALIFAX
Here at Totally Locally HQ we’re always helping others to collaborate so we thought we practice what we preach! As part ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY SHOP LAUNCH
We’ve set up a lovely shop on our website as we’ve started to do a bit of merchandise, items in our ...
JUNE NATIONAL FIVER FEST HITS OVER 100 TOWNS
After emerging from lockdowns, there was always going to be uncertainty over running events but we are thrilled to announce that ...
PODCAST WITH EMMA CORFIELD-WALTERS OF BOOK-ISH IN CRICKHOWELL
Chris talks to Emma Corfield-Walters, owner of Book-ish, The UK’s Independent Bookshop of the Year 2020/21 & the instigator of Totally ...
MORE RE-OPENING OF THE HIGH STREET POSTERS FOR YOU!
A set of posters to help your business when opening after the second lockdown. Download below. You can download, print and ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY JOINS ROUND-TABLE WITH SHADOW CHANCELLOR
Totally Locally was invited to a round-table discussion hosted by Anneliese Dodds, Labour Chancellor of the Exchequer along with business owners ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY ON THE INDEPENDENT 2021 HAPPY LIST
You can see the Happy List 2021 – HERE>>. Full text: Marketing expert Chris Sands developed Totally Locally, a ...
NEW MAP FOR LEIGH-ON-SEA
We love collaboration and this is a particularly nice one! Totally Locally Leigh-On-Sea is part of the Leigh-on-Sea Partnership Group (LPG), ...
BETWEEN THE LINES – A PODCAST WITH TIM HAIDAR
Chris had a nice chat with Tim Haïdar from GS1 UK (barcode and logistics support company) as part of their “Between ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY NAMED IN BIG ISSUE’S 100 2021 CHANGEMAKERS – COVID HEROES
We are thrilled that Totally Locally has been named as one of the UK’s Top 100 Changemakers for 2021. Such an ...
HANG ON IN THERE…..
We did a poster. Not for anything other than to say we’ll get through this together. We sincerely believe this. It’s ...
HIGH STREETS ONLINE FEATURED ON NATIONAL NEWS
We were featured on BBC Breakfast & BBC News all about our pilot .Shop website for Hebden Bridge and how it ...
INSTAGRAM LIVE WITH TRIANGLE BAKEHOUSE
Chris talks to Aaron and Vic of artisan bakery Triangle Bakehouse in Ripponden, West Yorkshire about how they started, their ethos, ...
OUR FIRST INSTAGRAM LIVE WITH BURNTISLAND
Our Chris had a nice chat with Yvonne from Totally Locally Burntisland about their local campaign, Fiver Fest etc. Yvonne explains ...
HEBDEN BRIDGE LAUNCHES PILOT HIGH STREETS ONLINE SITE
Our first site from our High Streets Online initiative launched in Hebden Bridge and has been warmly received by local businesses ...
THE FUTURE OF HIGH STREETS & HOW WE CAN ALL PLAY A PART
Over the last few months I’ve read lot of predictions for the high street. There are many different theories of what ...
RE-OPENING OF THE HIGH STREET POSTER SET FOR SHOPS & BUSINESSES
A set of posters to help your business when opening after the lockdown. Download below. ...
SHOP LIKE YOUR HIGH STREET DEPENDS ON IT – POSTER
2 POSTERS TO DOWNLOAD & PRINT The green one lets you add your shop name and web address / social media. ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY ON BBC NATIONAL NEWS
Totally Locally, Chris Sands & Leek featured on BBC1 national News. It compares Doncaster Council who spent £50 million on the ...
A TOTALLY LOCALLY TALE OF COLLABORATION FROM WYMONDHAM
Here’s a short tale from one of our latest Totally Locally towns, Wymondham. The organisers of Totally Locally Wymondham are based ...
BURNTISLAND ON SCOTTISH TV FOR FIVER FEST
Scottish TV visited Burntisland for the day to chat to business owners and locals about their part in the latest National ...
FIVER FEST FEBRUARY REACHES 100 TOWNS!
100 TOWNS ARE JOINING IN – POSSIBLY THE BIGGEST GRASS-ROOTS HIGH STREET INITIATIVE EVER RUN! HOW GOOD IS THAT?! Fiver Fest ...
FIRST TOTALLY LOCALLY PODCAST!
I spent some time chatting with my friend Amy Harbour, who was one of the very first people to take Totally ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY NEWARK
The folks in Newark are going great-guns! They formed a CIC to make it a bit more official and raise funds ...
OUR FIRST NATIONAL FIVER FEST
Fiver Fest is an integral part of our Town Kit campaign – once a town has been told about the impact ...
CHORLEY FIVER DESIGN COMPETITION
If it’s one thing that Totally Locally towns love, it’s having their own Fiver designed to use in their Fiver Fests ...
THE BOOKSHOP MANIFESTO
We are chuffed to announce our Independent Bookshop Manifesto. ...
THE TOTALLY LOCALLY TIMES
The Totally Locally Time template is part of the Town Kit. It’s been used by a few towns, but Totally Locally ...
LITTLE THINGS YOU CAN DO
LITTLE THINGS YOU CAN DO…. AS A BUSINESS We’ve found that Independent Businesses, on average, use about 8 local suppliers. When ...
CRICKHOWELL ON BBC BREAKFAST
Emma from Totally Locally Crickhowell was interviewed this week on the BBC Breakfast Show about winning High Street of the Year ...
EVERYONE LOVES A STAMP!
One thing we hadn’t really considered being part of the Town Kit until we saw a couple of towns had made ...
THE TOTALLY LOCALLY BUILDING SOCIETY ACCOUNT!
Leek United Building Society have launched a special savings account to help raise awareness of supporting independent businesses. Every pound saved ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY TEDDINGTON BAGS TRAVEL THE WORLD
Those industrious folks in Teddington had some useful and lovely Totally Locally shopping bags made with a local-themed nice design from ...
GERALDINE WEARABLE LIGHTS PARADE
Another great event from our friends in Australia, the Totally Locally Wearable Lights Competition! The fabulous Geraldine Lights Festival hosted this ...
GERALDINE EASTER BUNNY TRAIL
One of the reasons it’s good to have a Totally Locally campaign in your town is that for pretty much any ...
SMALL ACTIONS MAKE BIG NUMBERS FOR THE UK ECONOMY
….. and my maths mistake! Totally Locally is a campaign run in many towns across the UK and around the world ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY LAUNCHES IN WEST KILBRIDE
Say hi to the latest town in the Totally Locally Family, West Kilbride in North Ayrshire, Scotland! There was a growing ...
A TOTALLY LOCALLY BUSINESS STORY
We often get asked ‘”hat is Totally Locally about, what do you do?” Coincidentally we have had this sent through from ...
THE TOWN THAT TOOK ON THE TAXMAN
Totally Locally was approached by a production company asking if we knew of any towns that might be interested in a ...
LETS TALK ABOUT PARKING….. OR NOT!
Parking, it’s a big thing – we can all agree on that. You can pretty much guarantee that when we go to ...
TALE OF A TENNER – SPENDING LOCALLY & HOW THE MONEY GOES ROUND
The Tale of the Magic Tenner. An amazing little film shot in Hebden Bridge, in Calderdale where Totally Locally HQ lives. ...
THIS KIT WON’T FIX YOUR TOWN…. BUT YOU CAN
What Totally Locally Is – And What It Isn’t! Deeeeeep Breath……. It’s a Toolkit not a magic wand It’s not a ...
TOTALLY SOCIALLY IN SCARBOROUGH
Here’s the story of how Totally Socially came to be in Scarborough. The Yorkshire Coast Social Enterprise brings together enterprises that ...
THE TOTALLY LOCALLY LEEK FIVE POUND BURGER
In Leek, you can find the fabled Totally Locally Burger – yes they really went and done it! It of course ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY TICKHILL LAUNCH
Another Totally Locally town has launched, Tickhill. The campaign got the go-ahead to launch at the Tickhill Grand Prix along with ...
BROSELEY BAGS CONQUER THE WORLD
Not content with their record-breaking bag photoshoot, the folks in Broseley set themselves challenge: just how far can a Totally Locally ...
THE LEEK SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT
A chat with the Totally Locally people of Leek in Staffs. during their award-winning Totally Locally Sunday Supplement. A grassroots, voluntary ...
CHRIS RECEIVES AN HONORARY DEGREE
In July 2015, Chris was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by Staffordshire University. You could have knocked him down with a feather ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY COMMENDED IN SOUTH AUSTRALIAN STATE PARLIAMENT
The Launch of Totally Locally in Blackwood, South Australia was a huge success, so much so that their local MP, Sam ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY SHIPSTON-ON-STOUR
If there has been a town that has fully embraced Totally Locally and every single bit of the Town Kit then ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY’S FIRST FRENCH TOWN
Totally Locally has gone all-French! After hearing about Totally Locally, a lovely team in Villaines-la-Juhel in the Pays De La Loire ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY CHRIS IN AUSTRALIA
As Totally Locally takes off more in Australia, I’m working in South Australia with towns and groups on loads of different ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY CRICKHOWELL FIGHTS SUPERMARKET PLANS
UPDATE: Good news! The local group raised enough cash to purchase and renovate the building which now houses even more local ...
BROSELEY BAG RECORD
Totally Locally towns don’t generally do things by halves and the Broseley gang are no exception!
...
LOVE YOUR TOWN
One of the things we see with towns that go Totally Locally is a noticeable increase in pride in the town. ...
THE SUNDAY SUPPLEMENT
The Sunday Supplement – what is it? Is it a market? Yes. Is it an event? Yes. Is it an extra ...
THE ECONOMICS OF BEING NICE
(Original article in The Scarborough Comet) It’s always hard to explain the concept of Totally Locally, as there are so many ...
WHAT IF THEY BUILT A SUPERMARKET AND NOBODY CAME?
There are so many anti supermarket campaigns at the moment and it made me think. If the supermarket isn’t profitable shareholders ...
A TOURIST IN MY OWN TOWN
One of the things we say with Totally Locally is be a tourist in your own town. And I have to ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY AUSTRALIA TRIP – A SUMMARY BY CHRIS
I’m back in England, after what was a crazy time talking Totally Locally in Australia & visiting in New Zealand, I ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY VERSUS THE SUPERMARKETS
The Question Totally Locally Chris did a recent radio interview in which he was asked, and I paraphrase, What about the ...
THE ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM
So here we are going to discuss the one thing that no one really seems to want to discuss when it ...
DID YOU KNOW….?
A nice little poster for you to write some great stuff about you or your shop. From what’s produced locally, to ...
CRICKHOWELL CHRISTMAS MARKET
A hugely popular Christmas Market takes place each year in Crickhowell, organised by Totally Locally Crickhowell. This year lots of community ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY STUDY AND GRADUATE
Charnelle Merritt has become the first Totally Locally graduate! Charnelle (pictured here with Professor Jon Fairburn) was key to implementing Totally ...
CREATIVITY AND PASSION IN MALTON AND NORTON
The folks in Malton and Norton in North Yorkshire are a creative and passionate bunch. Since launching Totally Locally they have ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY BROSELEY LAUNCH
The latest Totally Locally town to launch is the Shropshire market of Broseley. To start with a bang, the volunteer team ...
VIDEO EXPLAINER FROM NEWARK
Check out this great video made by the team in Newark, these are our core messages all made into a fantastic ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY TEDDINGTON WORLD CUP
It seemed as though everyone in the town pitched in to help, with organising, catering, venues, football equipment, printing, photography and ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY SCARBOROUGH FAYRE
Totally Locally Scarborough hosted this ace fayre that was all about how to have your perfect wedding, party or reception using ...
TEDDINGTON’S AMAZING APRIL DRAW
Here’s a nice idea from Totally Locally Teddington, a raffle draw designed to remind locals to shop more in their local ...
THE CRICKHOWELL TENNER TRAIL
Totally Locally Crickhowell wanted to go one step further than a Fiver Fest and have a similar celebration of what the ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY LAUNCHES IN SALTAIRE
Saltaire is close to our hearts at Totally Locally HQ, it’s just up the road from where we started our campaign ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY BUNGENDORE LAUNCHES IN AUSTRALIA
Another Totally Locally town has popped up in Australia! After Jennie heard Chris talk in Melbourne she took his ‘just do ...
A WONDERFUL POEM ABOUT TOTALLY LOCALLY
Whilst in Adelaide Chris went for a drink after a long day at the Place Leaders conference where he was talking. ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY PRESENTATION IN FINLAND
Well this is a bit crazy! Students at TAMK University in Finland have been hearing all about Totally Locally in a ...
ANDOVER GOES TOTALLY LOCALLY FOR A £9M BOOST
The latest town to go Totally Locally is Andover in Hampshire! The local team kicked off the campaign with a Festive ...
WEST BRIDGFORD TOTALLY LOCALLY POP-UP SHOP!
Opened by the Mayor, this Totally Locally West Bridgford ‘mini department store’ opened just in time for Christmas Shopping. All participating ...
TOTALLY LOCALLY PRESTATYN HITTING ALL THE CHANNELS
The team in Prestatyn are an industrious bunch and know the value of a publicity, pulling all the right strings to ...
VALLEY OF LIGHTS – FLOOD RELIEF PROJECT
An Award Winning Project by the Totally Locally team. VALLEY OF LIGHTS – WINNER OF THE NATIONAL GOVERNMENT APSE Award ...
THE TOTALLY LOCALLY AWARDS
One day we had the idea to host a big award ceremony. Why the heck not – we liked the idea ...
RELENTLESSLY POSITIVE – OUR BIGGEST EVER COMPLIMENT!
Chris was interviewed by The Yorkshire Post about reviving the Great British High Street, with all the news of Mary Portas ...
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