2020 has been a testing year all round! And when it comes to small business and charities, the most recent lockdown, coming in the run up to Christmas, was just just about the final straw for keeping people indoors and clicking their way through to large online stores for their Christmas shopping.
But thanks to local small business owner Jodie Etches, who runs a home-scents and Body Shop at Home enterprise, over 40 small businesses and charities have an online community outlet of their own which is allowing them to thrive – the Rye Virtual Xmas Market 2020 Facebook group.
Rye’s market with a difference
Jodie, who lives in one of the outlying villages to Rye, shared what inspired her to start the group:
“I decided to start up the Virtual market after seeing some others on Facebook and thought it would be an amazing thing to do for Rye and our community. I initially started it with the High Street in mind after all the businesses having to shut due to the lockdown.
So I tried to contact as many as I could to see if they were interested in having a stall to advertise their goods. In doing that and setting up the page I ended up gaining lots of amazing independent businesses who sell and also make some beautiful items!”
The idea appealed to many business owners and the group includes well known local enterprises such as Charles Palmer Vineyards, outlets for Avon, Body Shop and Usbourne Books representatives, and charity fundraising stalls, such as Pett Level Independent Rescue Boat. There are also individual businesses covering all kinds of merchandise, from personalised print services, perfume, gifts and handmade items, to jewellery, baked goods, handcrafted items and curios.
Just like Rye’s traditional real life market, this Facebook group has resulted in a diverse marketplace of local stallholders, all of whom have been facing the same problem as a result of 2020’s pandemic and lockdowns, a problem that Jodie is adamant she wanted to help solve.
“This year has hit a lot of businesses hard and [I] just wanted to give them a way of trying to earn a living/get their business known by others in the community.”
And Jodie’s solution has certainly delivered for many. Rye resident Paula from Love n Lollipops, has been using the Rye Virtual Xmas Market 2020 to sell her hand-designed and home-sewn items, cards, crafts and art works. Paula is keen to acknowledge that being part of this public Facebook group has made a huge difference to her after a very difficult 2020.
“It’s saved my life!” Paula explains. “I was made redundant in August and worried about how I would even pay my rent – when they say ‘only a pay packet away from living on the street’ that was me! I just started with mask making and have grown massively since then. The support I have had from so many people is amazing and makes me want to do this as a new career.”
Paula estimates that she’s gained around 20 new customers since setting up stall in Jodie’s virtual Xmas market group. Paula also feels she has also benefited from the support that comes from being part of the virtual community – all for a £5 donation pitch fee.
“The virtual market didn’t hardly charge and they’ve been very supportive – it’s a brilliant thing!”
Pitch fees donated
The pitch fee of £5 is itself another example of how Jodie’s community spirit didn’t stop at ‘just’ supporting local businesses.
“I wanted to make sure that this group would also benefit a charity so [I] put a poll in the group for the members to have their say which charity would receive the stall fees,” Jodie explains. “Members could add their own charity. My hope was that it would be a Rye charity although I also added MIND as, in this unprecedented time, mental health is very much at the forefront, something I know too well, having suffered myself in the past few years.”
Following its launch at the start of November, as the market itself began to grow, Jodie began an online challenge to get the market to 45 stallholders (stall #13 being traditionally left vacant) so that the donations from the 44 paying pitches could be over £200.
In the event, all spaces were filled and local charity Rye Food Bank, which has been struggling as a result of the pandemic, was voted to receive the £225 donation, which Jodie then personally delivered.
Delighted Christine Emson, of Rye Foodbank had this message for Jodie, stallholders and supporters of the group: “On behalf of Rye Food Bank I would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part in the virtual market, what a brilliant idea. Your generous contribution will help us make the Christmas parcel a little special for 35 to 40 families – that is approx 160 people who attend every week. Thank you all once again.”
Sales have not stalled
Meanwhile, with all stalls filled, the Facebook group continued to grow as online friends and family shared links. At the time of writing this piece, the group has 706 members and sales are brisk across many of the stalls as sellers settle into this new normal for Christmas sales, and buyers switch to shopping locally but differently.
One anonymous Rye shopper shared with Jodie: “I have placed a few orders which has made me feel good as I was getting depressed doing online shopping when I would rather be having a wander around our town. Well done Jo, you should be very proud of yourself.”
The market continues right up until Christmas and as it does so, Jodie has learned a lot about our Rye community – and not just in terms of business.
“As a result of this group, I was approached by someone who was helping a lady who had been subjected to domestic abuse and had just given birth to a baby.” Jodie shared the request with the group and as a result, “so many lovely ladies came forward and we put together a care package which I have passed on.”
The kindness of strangers
Following this, the anonymous recipient passed on a message of thanks to Jodie and the Rye group, saying she’s “overwhelmed by the kindness of strangers.”
Although, like all of us, mum-of-three Jodie hopes the vaccine will mean Christmas – and shopping in Rye – can be back to normal next year, she said: “if we were to be in a similar situation next year I would happily do this again. But, fingers crossed, with this vaccine now coming in, we can at last start to look forward to some sort of normality in the near future. I have learned that we have an amazing community and so many lovely, talented people.”
Thanks to Jodie for her amazing efforts, not only in bringing businesses and shoppers together ‘in’ Rye this Christmas, but also for enabling charities and individuals to benefit from the amazing sense of community across the Rye area. Jodie’s Rye Virtual Xmas Market 2020 has proved that, even when it is moved online, it’s still very much a thriving and giving community that can make a difference.
Image Credits: K.Crowther , Jodie Etches By permission only , Mags Ivatts .