Mitchell Shire Council is appealing to young residents to spend their pocket money locally to support local retailers.
This new initiative encourages the community to support local traders wherever possible.
The campaign will run through all of the local primary schools until the end of the year and aims to change local consumer behaviour through continuous education.
The Mitchell Youth Council will visit each grade five classroom to introduce the five members of the Mitchell Crowd to the students and teach them all about shopping locally, getting our young people working with other young people for the good of the community.
The Mitchell Crowd is the centerpiece of Mitchell Shire Council’s 2014 Shop Local Campaign and features the characters Handy, Foodie, Fashionista, Sporty and Hipster, each representing a different consumer in the Mitchell community.
Through a five-minute video the students will get an insight to what the Mitchell Crowd’s typical shopping day is like and, as a result, how many benefit from their local shopping sprees.
During the lesson the grade fives will pair up with a classmate and create their very own Shop Local poster and slogan and explain what they have learned in an attempt to nurture their persuasive and narrative learning as part of the grade five curriculums.
These posters will be displayed in the shop windows on local streets and encourage additional foot traffic.
When the 60 minute lesson is complete the grade fives will be given a Mitchell Crowd ‘goodie bag’ that will contain branded bumper stickers, bookmarks with the Mitchell Crowd characters and a fridge magnet shopping list so each student can relate to a different character or personality that matches their spending tastes.
The Mitchell Crowd 2014 Shop Local Campaign was launched on Friday 18 July at the Broadford Primary School’s All School Assembly by our Mayor Councillor Rodney Parker, the CEO of Australia Made, Ian Harrison and The Mitchell Shire Youth Council.
With the first school introduction now complete, the campaign will now be delivered in all remaining schools across the municipality over the coming months.
In total, twelve primary schools will meet the Mitchell Crowd before the 2014 school year is out.
