Community Fund – Greener Leith – October Update

Over the years, Greener Leith has run several campaigns in support of local shopping.  Our first ever project in 2007 was a cloth shopping bag which was subsequently refined into the “We Love Leith” bonus bag.  5000 shopping bags later and an independent evaluation of the project found that 85% of the people who participated in the project said that they were more likely to shop local as a result.

However, despite this, we were never able to find a way of sustainably purchasing more shopping bags to keep the momentum of the project going.  Until now!

We’re going mobile and high-tech: we’re replacing the shopping bag idea with a mobile app.  Crucially the app will be more than a local directory – it will help to build social relationships between local businesses and local residents. There will be opportunities for new and unique ways for local businesses to connect with their customers through special offers, discounts, competitions, etc.  Best of all, in a year or so we’ll be able to provide really detailed feedback to participating businesses about how the apps have been used and where their customers shop (whilst respecting individuals privacy of course!), really useful information to local traders.

We’re involving as many local businesses as possible in the process of designing the app so that it really meets their needs and, as it has been fully funded for the first twelve months of operation, they will be able to join the project free of charge when it launches sometime next year.