'BRILLIANT' — that was the reaction of the organisers of Tavistock Totally Locally to the official launch of the group in the Guildhall last Saturday.

The campaign aims to encourage consumers to think about where they do their shopping and the difference they can make to their local economy.

Saturday's launch included a Totally Locally market, a visit from Peppa Pig, a bouncy castle, face painting, food demonstrations by chefs Peter Gorton, Bruce Cole and Paul Giles-Philips, pizza demonstrations from Seth Robertson and cupcake decorating with Amanda from Karen's Restaurant.

There was also a fascinating exhibition of pictures showing how Tavistock's shops have changed over a hundred year period.

Saturday also saw the start of the town's 'Fiver Fest' in which Tavistock's independent traders are offering special deals for £5.

Totally Locally believe that if every adult in the Tavistock area spent just £5 per week in their local independent shops, it could be worth an extra £2.6-million per year going into the economy. The campaign is due to run for two weeks.

Rachel Harrison-French, who has spearheaded the Totally Locally movement in Tavistock, said: 'The launch went really, really well, it was brilliant.

'Everybody had a good time and we had some very positive comments.

'The food demonstrations were great, all the food was donated by local independent shops, and there were recipe cards so people could go and source the ingredients, which were part of the Fiver Fest.'

Rachel said the Fiver Fest itself had been very well received by shoppers, with some of the businesses selling out of their special deals by the end of Saturday.

'The nice thing about Fiver Fest is whether you are a pannier market trader or a big shop, you are all being treated the same, and it shows people what a wide range of independent shops we have.'

Rachel said she wished to say a huge 'thank you' to everybody who had supported the launch of Totally Locally on Saturday.