MORE traders in Tavistock are being invited to sign up for the town’s gift card scheme, which has seen more than £26,000 go directly into the town’s businesses over the past year.

Janna Sanders, who is the manager of Tavistock BID, stressed that the scheme is open to all traders anywhere in Tavistock, not just members of the Business Improvement District, a group of more than 300 businesses in the town centre who pay a levy which goes into promoting their businesess.

With funding still unspent from the European Regional Development Fund and a grant from West Devon Borough Council, the gift card project is set to continue indefinitely.

Janna said it was a ‘no brainer’ for businesses to join as there was no cost to them.

Gift cards can be picked up at shops and businesses throughout Tavistock and loaded with the gift giver’s chosen amount. The recipient can then spend this wherever they like in any of the participating businesses.

‘We have done really well for gift card sales,’ said Janna. ‘Over the past year, up until just before Christmas, it had brought in £26,000 and we did sell more in the Christmas period. We have been working hard to get new businesses onto the programme, so there are more places where people can use the gift card.’

She said she had come up with the idea of the gift card – which was launched in Tavistock for Christmas 2020 – after seeing that other towns had successfully launched the idea among their traders.

‘I had seen a number of towns already have them and I started a conversation with the the company that organises them but we never had the funding to be able to launch it,’ she said.

‘Then during the first covid lockdown I approached West Devon Borough Council to see if they could help.

‘The beauty of the gift cardis you can buy it for any occasion. If you are not sure what to get for someone, it is a good choice and all the money goes directly into the town.

‘For a business to join is a no brainer. It doesn’t cost anything. If they accept Mastercard then they can join.

‘Any business in the Tavistock area can join, and the more people that take part, the more attractive it is as a gift option and the more places they can spend it.’

She said that the funding from WDBC and the ERDF meant the scheme could continue indefinitely. ‘There is money that is sitting there ready to be spent and unless you are part of the programme you can’t benefit,’ she said.

She was speaking as Tavistock traders look back on a better than expected Christmas, starting with Dickensian Evening getting people into town to discover the joys of shopping in person after months at home. ‘I have spoken to a few traders and generally the week leading up to Christmas was good and a few of the days in the week after Christmas were quite good, so it seems footfall was there despite covid concerns and so on the whole people have been positive,’ she said. Now, looking to the new year ahead she said that Tavistock BID were looking at how to encourage people to visit the the town in the year ahead.

‘We have got a lot of things planned for this year so our main focus for the next couple of months is to get our marketing strategy up and running, improving the town app and getting some other things in place.’ For more on the Tavistock Gift Card email [email protected].