Local Side Stories
It’s people that make a community and everyone has a story.
Whether it’s how local small businesses started, the inspiration for a handmade gift or just something that made us stop and think. You’ll find our collection of stories gathered here.
We hope they inspire you to do something that sparks your soul, even if it’s just to support your local community or visit a local market, buying a small piece of magic for you to gift to a friend or neighbour.
Read our stories
Think local and change the world
This week we celebrate World Environment Day (5th June) and World Ocean Day (8th June). Although both days have slightly different purposes, we celebrate them to remind ourselves that protecting our environment and looking after our oceans are essential for all...
Celebrating Bees – 5 reasons to help
The 20th May was World Bee Day, it raises awareness of the importance of bees and our environment. These hardworking creatures have an essential role in keeping our planet healthy. Together with wild pollinators, bees play a major role in maintaining biodiversity,...
7 ways Mother’s Day is celebrated around the world
Breakfast in bed, a bunch of flowers, zoom calls and a little bit of pampering. Most mothers would agree it’s lovely to be celebrated on a special day each year. Have a look at the different ways Mothers’ Day is celebrated around the world: 1. Ethiopia - the Antrosht...
I love a sunburnt country
This beautiful, honest poem by Dorothea MacKellar is one of our favourites. It paints a picture of an incredible country that is at once warm and picturesque and at the same time harsh and unforgiving. The Local-Side team were debating long and hard about whether to...
What does community mean to you?
One of the questions we get asked here a bit is, what’s the go with the Local-side? Why didn’t you just get a whole stack of great products from wholesalers and sell them? A lot of the team here at the Local Side grew up in regional areas, with town populations in the...
Did anything positive come from 2020?
Happy New Year everyone! Phew aren’t we glad to put that one behind us? As the new year begins, I was looking back and wondering was 2020 all bad? Yep – absolutely – it was dreadful. A once in a lifetime event occurred and no one was prepared for it. Lots...
Welcome back local markets!
One of my favourite things to do is to go to a local market and talk to the vendors about their products and the story behind them. I recently came across a group of more senior gentlemen with a love of woodwork. They made beautiful handcrafted gifts of pepper...