Washington virtual Christmas market to showcase 50 local businesses as part of support local drive during lockdown

The virtual market, which will take place on Facebook, was organised by local business owner Nicola Hankinson, 27, from Washington, who runs her own craft shop.

The event will run for two weeks and allow residents to support local businesses over the Christmas period and find some homemade gifts for friends and loved ones.

Nicola wanted to organise the event to encourage people to shop local and support local traders after such a difficult year.

She said: “The idea came from seeing so many small businesses shutting their doors or not being able to work due to government guidelines. I think it is so important to try to keep our local shops open and support as many as we can during this time.

“We have a great range of items being brought to the Christmas market and we will be getting all small businesses and a few hobby crafters to upload their items on to the group event on Facebook.”

The Washington and Sunderland virtual Christmas Market will open this Saturday on November 28 and run for two weeks until December 12 and can be found at this link.

It comes as the Echo runs its Support Local campaign, aimed at encouraging shoppers to support local businesses in the run up to Christmas, as the pandemic threatens jobs and livelihoods.

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