By Elisa Freeling
Looking for a unique Christmas gift that can’t be found on Amazon? Why not start your search in a local Christmas market, at a school or community fair, with our local gift guide or with the independent shops on your own high street?
This weekend, on the 2nd of December, the annual campaign Small Business Saturday celebrates its fifth anniversary. Highlighting the small and the local at the busiest shopping time of the year, the event also hopes to change habits by encouraging people to keep it local all year round.
I live in Northfields, so I’ll be mooching around Mooch—a shop I can never enter without buying some exquisite thing—as well as the Northfields Night Market this Saturday. I’ll keep fortified with a flat white from The Fields Coffee, head to Cheddar Deli for host gifts, and chill with a cheeky pint at our brilliant micropub The Owl and the Pussycat.
What’s near you? Pop in your postcode and use the Small Business Saturday website to find a local shop. While you’re there, check out their free downloadable cookbook, featuring delish recipes from a range of small UK foodie producers—including several in London, from traditional handmade pasta makers who offer classes in Chiswick to a micro bakery in Fulham. (The Gingerbread Pizza is a fun twist on the traditional seasonal treat, though I might tackle the Saffron & Cardamom-infused Chocolate & Pomegranate Cake—mmm…)
Other sources for finding small retailers include the London Bookshop Map and The MotherHood’s very own directory—or just head to your high street and skip the chains. Shopping local is more convenient, more festive (no chance that Amazon will be handing out mulled wine) and helps shore up your own community all year round.
