Totally Locally is a grass-roots campaign, which works precisely because it is run by ‘the people’. When local authorities or business groups try to implement any campaign like this, it becomes top-down instead of bottom-up, and as such can either fail to launch or just fizzle out. It has to be OWNED by the town, its businesses & volunteers.

BUT we’ve worked out a way of combining the clout and resources of local authorities & business groups with the community-led, feet-on-the-ground energy of volunteer groups. And it excludes no one, as long as they are an independent business.

This package is how a Local Authority, BID or other organisation can become officially Totally Locally Certified and is designed for an organisation to provide support to start a local grass-roots group that will boost their local economy and help independent businesses long-term through collaboration. The funds from this enable us to train a local volunteer group to run our campaign enabling your organisation to benefit from the association & positivity this can bring to your town over many years.

This guided approach can give a local group a boost in setting up Totally Locally in your town and giving it the best chance of making a difference. See here for feedback on how our campaign has benefited other towns.

Our TownThrive package (previously ‘Mentoring’) is compatible with Government funding schemes for boosting local economies (including the UK Shared Prosperity Fund).. specifically where their aims are to cover activities that help support independent businesses, boost local economies, grow stronger communities & pride of place and future-proof high streets.

A few words from Lilla Bathurst, manager of Ripon BID, currently benefiting from TownThrive:

The partnership between Ripon BID and Totally Locally has brought our Indie Traders together and we have seen some fantastic new collaborations, ways of working together, events and ideas come about from the project.

Indie Traders are now seeing themselves at the forefront of a “Ripon Revolution” to get more recognition for the unique offering that is Ripon – we have seen a definitive increase in media coverage with traders interviewed on Radio York and Your Harrogate, and press coverage from our local print and digital media outlets.

Totally Locally has seen a definitive increase in desire for traders to work collaboratively with both Ripon Cathedral, North Yorkshire Council and Ripon City Council. With double devolution on the cards meetings are taking place with Ripon City Council and the Cathedral to create a pool of community assets such as barriers and staging, tables and chairs.

Traders no longer see themselves in competition but as one cohesive unit set to make Ripon “The place to be!”

Key Features

A visit to your town & high street (where feasible) – a full day of visiting and talking to businesses and the public to get a feel of the place, where we discover the culture and nuances of your town & business community, and what makes it tick. This is important to help tailor the work we do for a place-specific goal.

Help in identifying key people to form and run your town’s independent Totally Locally group – those who we know ‘get it’.

Tailoring the Totally Locally Town Kit for your town – all files handed over to the group for future use as InDesign files. Instruction in tone of voice, imagery, brand awareness and how to use the kit effectively for future work.

Setting up and help in running your first Fiver Fest, Magic Tenner or bespoke campaign to promote awareness and launch your group & the town campaign

Initial session for the funding organisation personnel (i.e. BID, Council etc) and key people from the volunteer group (leading business owners / community leaders), explaining the Totally Locally concept, initial Q&A. This is to get key people up to speed on the concept to spread the message quickly and accurately, enabling other stakeholders to come onboard.

Group session/workshop for the extended town group, including any business owners/volunteers etc explaining the concept and how it works. This includes topics such as “The Subtle & Difficult Art of Collaboration!” “Strengthening Local Economies through supply chains” & “Markets & Events that bring footfall to bricks & mortar businesses (not just the event!)”….. and more.

These sessions can be tailored specifically to the current and future needs of the town / high street. We have run lots of these sessions, we have worked on projects big and small, and know the pitfalls and how to get things done. We share our knowledge and experience, and tailor it to your town / high street.

Support in running the Totally Locally Campaign – advice on launch events, collaboration, the nuances of making it work and helping with a unique take that is relevant to your town. Up to 3 in-person follow-up sessions for the group for general questions/advice etc

Copies of our book ‘The Economics of Being Nice’ which explains the history of Totally Locally and methodology of the campaign, plus stories and evidence from town groups who have run the campaign, and how it has affected their town & high street.

Long-term support via our Facebook ‘Doers’ group of 1,000 key individuals from around the world as well as 1 year’s email and once a month Zoom meetings with us (if required).

Licence for the Council /BID association with the campaign including your logo on the all the editable Town Kit campaign posters e.g. a tagline of your choice (e.g. ‘Supported by’ or ‘Funded by’ etc).

“Totally Locally Certified Council/BID” accreditation – our own way of saying you understand the methodology and workings of Totally Locally and how it applies to your town/area. (Also you get a nice certificate and logo for your website!).

NOTE: All our ideas and projects are designed to be no or little cost to the local organising group. We don’t deal in big ticket items, we bring quick, fast-acting, cheap interventions which can be done with little cost and some big thinking. Included in the Kit are templates and ideas for becoming self-sustaining through merchandise sales for printing costs etc.

We help set these schemes up, we don’t run them – that has to be done by the local people involved. We help them with ideas via workshops, encouragement and tools to promote. Using these methods creates a sense of ownership for those involved, and therefore a sustainability for future events and campaigns. This is how Totally Locally has become so widespread – helping towns to help themselves.

Our campaign for collaboration aka the town kit is one aspect of what we do. It can be built-on for additional benefits and longevity such as:

1. Placemaking (re-branding areas, towns, landscapes to connect people and place – for some examples see here.

2. Community / empty shop takeovers, implementing and co-ordinating pop-up collective shops, people & place specific, low cost street-art campaigns to enliven high streets.

3. Specific event branding

Introductions To our Partners Where Appropriate / Sustainable – all designed to integrate with the Totally Locally Campaign.

4. Banking hubs for towns – we are currently partnering with one a major banking hub organisation to bring hubs into towns which have lost their banks… providing full banking facilities (rather than the limited ones the Post Office and other providers offer). This only applies if the town is appropriate and sustainable and can be introduced via introducing our partner to integrate with the whole Totally Locally campaign.

5. Town Digital High Streets – app & website for individual towns – a place-based, location ringfenced online high street for discovering and buying what’s available locally from shops, cafes, businesses and takeaways (ASAP deliveries for on-demand orders, click-and-collect and local delivery). Linking with current and future delivery partners, all built with our Yorkshire-based tech partners with a proven track record in local eCommerce and delivery apps. This is integrated into the Totally Locally campaign, so it is a holistic approach and takes advantage of engagement that the campaign has brought.

Transaction fees are considerably less than those charged by JustEat, Deliveroo etc. We have also negotiated an optional method transfer a percentage of each transaction into a pot to fund High Street events/campaigns for the town.

If you want to know more, get in touch! This package is not limited to just the UK.