Double the joy and shop thoughtfully this year

Small businesses are a vital part of local communities. Jobs. Creativity. Innovation. The list goes on. And the festive period is a crucial time for them - it's even more important this year when we reflect on the ongoing uncertainty of the last 20 months. So, if you happen to be looking for gifts to show your appreciation for your nearest and dearest - look at Isle.20.com

The Isle20.com online shop - a social enterprise - was set up in March 2020 to help connect you with products and produce from over 500 small businesses from thirty-one Scottish islands. By doing so, it helps to build innovative and profitable island businesses which can trade confidently year-round so that island communities stay 'strong, vibrant and resilient'.

When you take a digital daunder into Isle20.com, you can explore everything that this incredibly talented community has to offer. Shop by island - from Bute in the south to Barra in the north. Not only does it offer something for everyone, it also shines a light on those products you didn't know existed, which could be from islands you've yet to visit.

Isle.20.com is the idea of Rhoda Meek of Tiree Tea. Its story started in the early days of the pandemic, when Rhoda realised the impact COVID19 was likely to have on travel and tourism. While surveying her own stock, she joked in a message to friends that she should pull together a directory of island businesses so that people could still go shopping on the islands virtually if they couldn't come and visit this year. That remark turned out to be a great idea and she got to work. Within seven weeks 360 businesses had joined. Rhoda says that she knew isle20 would be good idea but even she had underestimated the breadth and variety of businesses operating across the island community.

As soon as you've finished reading this, visit Isle20.com - it's the perfect way to combine gift giving with supporting our talented island communities.