“Shop Local”: that’s the message of a new short film series featuring owners of Wantage’s independent town centre shops. It’s the latest initiative by Wantage’s town team to promote the great range of independent shops in the town centre. There are seven short films – one promoting the town centre independent shops as a whole, and six focusing on the independent shops on individual streets or areas of town: Mill Street, Grove Street/Kings Walk, Market Place, Wallingford Street, Newbury Street and Arbery Arcade/VC Gallery. The films – the first set of a planned series - feature owners of more than 40 town centre businesses talking about the products they offer, and images from inside the shops. They are available via the Wantage Town Team channel on YouTube and will feature on the community website www.wantage.com. Cllr Matthew Barber, Leader of Vale of White Horse District Council, said: “The videos are a really good way of highlighting what Wantage has to offer, and provide local traders with a great opportunity to reach potential new customers.” The filming was done by Wantage resident Eloise Rees who has her own films venture, Oxford Digital Films. Eloise says: “It was great to be working on a local project, and ‘shop local’ is campaign I feel passionate about pushing. The shops we visited were so varied, and it really highlighted how many independents there are in Wantage.” Town Team Co-ordinator, Mim Norvell, says: “We know through our town team work that local people are not always aware of the current range of independent retailers we have in the town. Some of our shops are tucked away and some are recent arrivals. It’s been a great project to find out more about them all, and we hope these videos will help shine a light on these shops and what’s on offer in Wantage.” One of those to feature in the film series is Gail Crowther at Arbery Emporium (pictured with husband Frank De’Ath). Gail says: “You will be surprised how often your local Wantage shops will have what you want, at a great price! Wantage has great independent shops and we are so close!” Peter Casey (pictured with, left, Anya Amies and, right, his wife, Donna Casey), who recently took on a second Wantage town centre unit for his jewellery business, says: “I believe it is extremely important to support independent retailers in our town centres to avoid the feeling of cloning. It's vital to have businesses where there is individual input into stock ranges to avoid every shop looking the same.” The Shop Local short films series adds to an ongoing Wantage town centre promotional campaign which has already seen publication of a ‘What’s In Store’ guide to shops, and a guide to places to eat, drink and stay. Wantage town team is part of a town vitality initiative being delivered by the Vale of White Horse District Council, Wantage Town Council, Grove Parish Council and Wantage & District Chamber of Commerce through the Wantage Joint Economic Forum (JEF), supported by Town Team Co-ordinators Mim Norvell and Iain Nicholson.