Dorset retailers come together for Small Business Saturday
Dorset's high streets are getting ready for one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Independent retailers across Dorset are coming together to support Small Business Saturday today.
The event encourages us to shop local for the first weekend of December, traditionally one of the busiest shopping days of the year.
Parking is free in council car parks today to help in that effort.
Phil Gordon from Dorchester BID says shopping local this Christmas can save you time and money:
"If you go and shop in Dorchester High Street with it's proliferaton of small, independent businesses, as well as the multis, you're getting a personal service, you're getting a human interaction with someone who can actually give you advice."
But the government is asking people to make sure they test for COVID before they head to the shops this Christmas.
Phil Gordon added:
"It's as safe as we make it, and we have to hope people have the common sense that if they're feeling under the weather or they've taken a lateral flow test and it's come up they may have COVID, they stay away."
For those of us who are worried about shopping on the high street, but still want to support it a new online site enables you to buy straight from over a hundred Dorset independents online.
Lindsay Anderson www.shopdorset.co.uk. She told Greatest Hits Radio Dorset:
"Shop with your local green grocers, shop with your local butcher, shop with your local department store.
"It makes shopping more fun for you. You may have less money through the pandemic, but if you think about where you're spending your money, you actually find it's a nicer way to shop.
"It is about investment, the economy does need the boost at the moment but it's not just about money, it's about making your community a nicer place to live.
"It's enriching your community."