HIGH Streets with an eye to entertainment are celebrated with the launch today of the new In Our Towns campaign.
Already four shopping centres in the Five Valleys and Severn Vale are on board with In Our Towns, which aims to encourage even more visitors in future to their myriad attractions.
Based on shopping guru Mary Portas' review of British high streets, In Our Towns has already won £10,000 in government funding which was matched by Stroud District Council.
The idea is to spend the money to promote the High Streets across the District - focusing first on Stroud, Dursley, Painswick and Wotton-under-Edge and then encouraging more towns to get involved.
Stroud MP Neil Carmichael, pictured, who chaired the inaugural In Our Towns meeting, said nowadays people went to high streets to be entertained as well as to shop.
"Our towns have a rich and diverse range of activities so the idea is to promote all that is happening in the participating towns and to develop links between them," he said.
"Already I have noticed a positive impact, having been talking recently with organisers of the Painswick Art Couture, a brilliantly vibrant, enterprising and colourful occasion being planned again in August.
"Making sure people know about all that is on offer is the key to generating even more success for our towns."
In Dursley, hair and beauty salon boss Samantha Owen said the town's big bonus was that it only had a handful of chain stores amid, probably, 30 individual privately-run businesses.
She said: "I am confident In Our Towns will work and make people shop locally. We have a handmade bakers, a butcher with his own abattoir and Clifton Cameras is also massive online."
Stroud and District Chamber of Trade and Commerce spokesman and bookseller Ron Cree said: "The town has a wealth of unique, individual, independent and specialist shops, set in the picturesque heart of the Five Valleys.
"With its narrow winding streets there is a new discovery around every corner and plenty of entertainment during the day and evening."
There were also two regular weekly markets, said Mr Cree. The first on a Friday and Saturday at The Shambles and the second the multi-award winning Farmers' Market on Saturday.
President of the Wotton Chamber of Trade Duncan Elliott said his town was a fantastic place to visit, work and live.
"We have a high number of independent retailers, plus a hotel and many pubs and restaurants to choose from," he said.
"The Cotswold Way goes through the town so there is always a vibrant feel to the main street.
"We have our own independent cinema, swimming pool, heritage centre and the walking and views around the area are glorious, which is why the town attracts so many visitors.
"Wotton is also a hotbed of creative talent with the Under The Edge Arts festival being just one of many examples."
