How our members have made a difference in 2020

Like many small businesses, we've had to adapt fast in 2020. The changes made have been a boost for local businesses and the community work we've managed to do has had a bigger impact than ever before – and it’s all down to the support of our members, so thank you!

Here’s a quick look back at three of the projects our members helped make happen! We'd like to wish you a healthy and happy 2021.

1. My Virtual Neighbourhood

When lockdown hit, we worked day and night to build My Virtual Neighbourhood – a London-wide directory of independent businesses. The site was described by The Guardian’s Jay Rayner as “an impressive and growing resource". It has had hundreds of thousands of hits and shops and restaurants listed tell us it has been a huge lifeline. For some London businesses, like Ince Umbrellas in Bethnal Green, My Virtual Neighbourhood has become their biggest online referrer.

We've teamed up with Hackney, Camden and Wandsworth Councils to become an integral part of their shop-local campaigns.

Thanks to all of you for using My Virtual Neighbourhood and for spreading the word. It will continue to grow in 2021- to help local people find lovely local businesses.

2. Trick or Eat - Over 5,000 Kg of supplies collected

Images of people queuing at food banks mid-pandemic was more than we could bear. For a second year running we ran Trick or Eat, only this time the appeal was more successful than we could ever have imagined.

60 households, many Local Buyers Club members, became food bank collection points over night and appealed to their friends and neighbours to give. The event offered local children a fun and meaningful alternative to Trick or Treat – as they went on a Trick or Eat trail, delivering tins of food along the way.

Thanks to the kindness of an amazing community, we collected four lorries (over five tonnes) of food for Hackney Foodbank. We are told this is the second biggest single donation they've had, topped only by a large investment bank.

Join the Local Buyers Club HERE and save £5 with the code LOCAL2021 (Usual price just £12 per year)

Club members receive savings and perks at hundreds of lovely local independent businesses.

3. Winter Toy Appeal

Covid-19 certainly made running our annual Winter Toy Appeal more challenging – with shops no longer able to act as donation points, we were forced to rely on Go Fund Me and online purchases.

Thanks to your generosity the Appeal provided new toys at Christmas for 5,600 children in London experiencing extreme poverty. We were able to buy over £27,000 worth of toys from independent shops, helping them survive one of the hardest years yet.

We’ve been running the Winter Toy Appeal in partnership with Location Location for seven years now – it makes a tremendous difference to families experiencing hardship (taking a financial pressure off parents and creating a moment of joy and Christmas magic).

A huge thank you to everyone who supported this year's appeal.

Small but determined

We’re a small company too, but we have big ambitions to help small businesses thrive and to do all we can to harness the power of London’s amazing communities to help people in need. If you're not a Club member yet, we'd love to welcome you aboard! (Visit www.localbuyersclub.com to join).

Wishing you all a healthy and happy 2021.

Jenna and Basil

Please join the Local Buyers Club

We're on a mission to help people discover & support the best independent businesses. We also organise community initiatives like the Winter Toy Appeal and have recently set up www.myvirtualneighbourhood.com

But we can only do it with the support of our wonderful members.

JOIN NOW for just £12

Our members are rewarded for choosing local with savings or perks at hundreds of awesome restaurants, shops, bars and small businesses throughout London. We help spread the word about them and raise awareness of the advantages of shopping locally.

Join the Local Buyers Club and, for just £12 per year, you'll be helping to support local business.

Find out how it works and JOIN THE CLUB

If you're a great independent business in London and would like to find out more about joining the Club and being listed on our site please email team@localbuyersclub.com