Pickering Town Community Interest Company ( PTCIC) is launching a gift voucher to encompass the town’s businesses.

From Friday, residents and tourists will be able to purchase a Pickering Gift Voucher from Pickering Book Tree or online from the PTCIC website.

Available in denominations of £5 or £10, the vouchers are redeemable in over 40 businesses.

Carrie Brackstone, Operations Manager of PTCIC said: “We have so many wonderful shops in the town and want to ensure their future. By running this voucher system which runs like any other voucher system, we hope to see less money spent online and more in our Market Place.”

Carrie added: “With Father’s Day on the horizon, what better present to buy your Dad than a Pickering Gift Voucher? What other voucher enables him to get his haircut, buy a new trowel or have a few pints down his local – or all three if you are feeling flush.”

Joan Lovejoy, Mayor of Pickering said: “In my opinion, the vouchers are an absolutely fantastic idea. They will enable spending to stay in the town and be of enormous benefit to its economic growth. I’m sure the businesses who are accepting them will see an increase in trade. PTCIC are to be congratulated for introducing them to the town.”

Matt Dunn from The Pet Store, a participating business said: “The new vouchers are a fantastic idea. It gives people choice which is important. If you look at Pickering shops as a whole, there is very little that we are short of.”

Local schools have already signed up for the initiative and will be giving Pickering Gift Vouchers to students in place of the vouchers that they usually as a reward system, to be spent online. PTCIC also wish to encourage bigger businesses to look at buying them for Christmas gifts for their staff instead of giving usual high street and supermarket vouchers.

Pickering Gift Vouchers are on sale from this Friday, March 31. A list of participating businesses can be found online at www.pickeringtowncic.org.uk. If you’d like to be included in the voucher system then please email carrie@pickeringtowncic.org.uk.

The businesses included do far are :The Hair Shop, Brothers Trimm, The Living Quarter, The Black Swan, Pickering Book Tree, The Smiddy, Feast, The White Swan,Champleys Shoes,Cottage Lifestyle, Sentier Boutique, Sweet Temptations, Coopers. The Pet Store, Flintofts. The Old Weigh, Beckside Gifts, Dunnings Butchers, Café Cocoa, Klarneins, Trailblazer, Big Bear Bikes, Dalby Forest Cycle Hub, Allansons Flooring, Bits and Pizzas, Television House, Birdgate Chocolatiers, JSC Collectables, Horsleys, Brogues Gallery, Hair by Paula, The Balance Rooms, Country Crust, Dales Florist, Forest and Vale. Mickle Hill, Hares and Hedgerows, Flintofts, The Organic Farm Shop. Beauty by Shelagh, Russells The Hidden Market, The Sun Inn.