JAMES GRUNDY - Support ‘shop safe and shop local’

This week I have launched my ‘Shop Safe, Shop Local’ campaign and I am calling on local residents to sign my petition for Wigan Council to introduce a series of measures to help our local high streets recover from Covid-19.

Businesses on our local high streets have suffered greatly as a result of Covid-19, many of whom shut their doors and found ways to help out in the community during this difficult time. As things slowly return to normal, it’s now time for us to give back to our local businesses to help get them back on their feet.

Sadly, there are still too many barriers for people when visiting our high streets, such as costly and inadequate parking, closed public toilets and concerns surrounding the safety of paying a visit to our town centres.

Bolton Council has come up with an innovative scheme to deal with this and I am asking Wigan Council to implement similar measures.

The Government has granted Wigan Council £290,046.00 from their Reopening High Streets Safely Fund.

I am asking that Wigan Council use a portion of this money to implement free two hour parking for shoppers on weekdays to encourage local people to pay a visit to local businesses; the reopening of public toilets, in line with Government guidance, to ensure that those who rely on these facilities are not restricted from using our town centres; and contactless hand sanitization stations to reassure people that our high streets are safe to visit.

After speaking to local business owners in Leigh town centre, I believe that the measures I am urging the council to introduce will help kickstart our local economy and encourage people to ‘Shop Safe, Shop Local’.

To sign my ‘Shop Safe, Shop Local’ petition and help support our local high streets please visit https://www.jamesgrundy.org.uk/sign-my-shop-safe-shop-local-petition .

The Chancellor Rishi Sunak has also introduced the ‘Eat Out To Help Out’ scheme to incentivise customers to eat in restaurants or other establishments that serve food, by giving them a discount which can then be claimed back from the government.

The scheme is UK wide and customers will be able to see which businesses are taking part on GOV.UK.

The scheme will drum up custom on quieter days of the week for businesses helping them to build back up.

The scheme covers restaurants, cafés, public houses that serve food, hotel restaurants, restaurants and cafes within tourist attractions, holiday sites and leisure facilities, dining rooms within members’ clubs and workplace and school canteens.

The discount can be applied to food and/or non-alcoholic drinks purchased for immediate consumption on the premises, up to a maximum discount of £10 per diner with no minimum spend. As lockdown eases the Government has also announced further relaxation of restrictions.

Close contact services, such as nail bars, salons, tanning booths, spas, massage parlours, tattoo parlours and body piercing studios, can open in line with government guidance.

The sacrifices, inventiveness and impressive adaptations that businesses have implemented to ensure they can operate safely, should be noted.

From July 25, sports facilities and venues, including such businesses as indoor gyms, fitness and dance studios, indoor swimming pools and indoor water parks, will be able to open – subject to evidence that it is safe to do so closer to the time.

Now businesses are reopening again, and things gradually shift back to a sense of normality, local business need your help recovering.

With so many hit so hard by the crisis, I would urge you to shop locally, paying back these businesses who have assisted so much during lockdown, offering services and manpower for a wide range of local community organisations, charities and programmes.

Please visit your town centre, shop at your local market, pop in to your local salons, barbers and shops. It is important that as a community we take this as an opportunity to broaden our shopping habits and sample some of the wonderful products, expertise and services that are on offer locally to help, protect and support the small businesses of our constituency.