During November and December of last year, Monmouth and District Chamber of Trade & Commerce (MDCTC) ran a competition in conjunction with award-winning designers Platform One to raise awareness of the value and importance of shopping locally.

Designed to be fun and engaging for all ages, entrants were challenged to find the objects that Father Christmas had on his shopping list. Children especially enjoyed encouraging their parents to join them in the search and by all accounts many adults ’discovered’ some shops - and the friendly shopkeepers - for the first time.

The winners were, in first place Rosemary Janes (not pictured), second place Amelie Chung, (pictured centre), and third place Catherine Gilbert (second left) with 10 runners-up. All the prizes, which were presented by David Cummings (chairman of MDCTC) were funded by the chamber of commerce.

"The committee wish to thank everyone who supported the retailers, whether or not they participated in the competition; Monmouthshire Beacon, Monnow Voice, MonTeas and Shire Hall for their support," he said.

Launched on the screens at the Monmouth Festival in July, the MDCTC Shop Local was spread throughout the town and David Tovey from Monteas visited every high street business delivering posters to display in windows, on ledges, poster displays and in-store.