Innovative scheme launches in the Shropshire Hills
An innovate scheme in Shropshire, aimed at helping to preserve a centuries-old way of life, has resulted in the production of a new directory mapping-out where locals and visitors alike can ‘go, buy, eat, and stay’ at countryside businesses committed to becoming more sustainable.
The Shropshire Hills Sustainable Business Scheme champions the “buy local” mantra which its members have signed-up to support. In addition to being unique to the UK, it is also a model for other parts of the country to now follow.
Eco, green and sustainable, the scheme has so far been able to sign-up more than 100 local businesses who have pledged to reduce their impact on the environment, to enhance wildlife and landscape, to involve both locals and visitors, and to support the local economy.
Crucially, the newly launched directory - featuring around 70 of those businesses in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) - is seen as yet another step towards preserving the traditional way of life in the remote Shropshire Hills.
“Like every other area of Britain, the present economic downturn is having a huge impact on our local businesses,” explains Jodie Griffith, of the Shropshire Hills AONB Partnership which co-ordinates the scheme. “But by signing-up to this scheme, and by working together in a more co-ordinated manner, our members are slowly but surely helping us to get our ‘Buy Local – Be Sustainable’ message out to a wider public. And if this directory of businesses can point both the people who live here, as well as those who visit the Shropshire Hills, in the direction of those local businesses then we’ll be well on course to protecting the livelihood of a lot of people who live and work here.”
The project as a whole has been running for almost five years, and is becoming increasingly visible across the Shropshire Hills. Most of the B&Bs, guest houses, farmhouses, cafes, restaurants, pubs, shops, food producers and activity providers now proudly display the “Buy Local - Be Sustainable” logo in their windows and front doors.
And it is also given a high profile, these days, at the local Farmer’s Markets.
Businesses which have signed-up to the scheme pay an annual membership fee of just £25, and in return are asked to sign a Sustainability Pledge, which is then displayed on their walls - showing their customers all of the activities they are carrying out to become more sustainable.
For full details about the Shropshire Hills Sustainable Business Scheme, visit www.shropshirehills-buylocal.co.uk.
