Town centre based, family owned and managed Dawson's Department Store is spearheading a "Have a Heart – Shop Local" initiative. It comes after the closure in recent months of a number of shops and businesses that formerly occupied premises within the heart of Clitheroe and aims to encourage residents to make the most of what they still have or risk losing that too.

Explains Dawson's managing director Judith Dawson: "This campaign is not about Dawson's but rather Clitheroe as a whole. The town is increasingly unique in still having an array of quality, competitively priced, independent shops and market stalls, as well as a choice of supermarkets, offering virtually everything anyone could ever need or want.

"It also has a range of businesses providing all kinds of professional services from hairdressing to legal advice.

"Together, they are Clitheroe's life blood. They help to make the town and surrounding area a desirable place to live. This in itself brings benefits to local people in addition to other positives such as jobs that they provide and revenue, which they generate, including in terms of taxes that they pay to Ribble Valley and Clitheroe councils that then also filter back to improve the general standard of living.

"However, as we've seen in neighbouring towns and more recently on our own doorstep, in today's economic climate, survival is becoming ever more difficult. As a family with a 70-year trading history in Clitheroe, we are personally passionate about preserving Clitheroe's town centre heart."

Says Mandy Dawson, who swapped a London career teaching in order to join mum Judith and brothers Simon and Stephen working on the Dawson's shop floor: "To keep Clitheroe healthy, we all have to remember to put it first when we do our shopping or need a service and, as a business community, we need to support each other."

As a show of its support, Dawson's is making its "Have a Heart – Shop Local" campaign logo available to all of its retail and business neighbours by funding the printing of window stickers. Adds Mandy: "The more shops and other outlets that are able to display it the better because it is re-enforcing the message that Clitheroe has a lot to offer. If the campaign is to succeed, people need reminding of this at every opportunity."

Dawson's, which sells everything from nuts and bolts to cookware, bed linen and luxury handbags, is also planning to support the campaign through a number of community-based initiatives that will run throughout the year and in some cases, seek direct partnership with other Clitheroe retailers and businesses.