ON Friday, October 31, the Malvern Gazette launches A #VeryMalvern Christmas, a sparkling campaign to champion local businesses during the festive season.

We will be banging the drum for the town’s wonderful range of shops, pubs, restaurants, cafes and other services in print, online, on mobile and on social media using the hashtag #VeryMalvern.

Apart from what they sell and the services they provide, businesses are a part of the mix that makes our area such a vibrant place in which to live and work.

We will be reminding shoppers just how fabulous Malvern – and Upton – is during Christmas.

This will be the second year that we have run the campaign following its success last year.

Each week until Christmas Eve we will turn the spotlight on the expert service and terrific value offered by one our independent traders.

The exciting events going on around the town at this time of year will be showcased too.

As well as publishing all this in print, online and on mobile, we are also encouraging businesses, and their customers, to get involved on the various social media platforms.

Businesses and individuals using the hashtag #VeryMalvern when they post Facebook and Twitter will be included in a live report running on the malverngazette.co.uk website until Christmas Eve.

We will be sharing all your #VeryMalvern posts and tweets through our Twitter account @verymalvern and our Facebook page facebook.com/verymalvern.

And you’ll be able to read news about the campaign in the special section of the Malvern Gazette website at malverngazette.co.uk/verymalvern (where you can also download a campaign poster to display in the window of your business).

Please do your bit to support Malvern’s businesses. Use #VeryMalvern to tell everyone how magical shopping in Malvern is at Christmas time.

But most of all shop local… and ask your friends to do the same.