I was digging around the back of the drawer, and buried amongst the clutter, I pulled out a pack of ‘Kingston Pound’ vouchers - which my dad must have gotten at the Surbiton food festival several years ago where it had been on trial as a local currency. Although the vouchers are no longer valid, it occurred to me that I only had a vague recollection of the existence of the Kingston Pound and I knew more about the Bristol Pound, legal tender of a city over 100 miles away, than the currency of the town I have lived in for the majority of my life.
Created in 2013 with the aim to formalise a ‘buy local’ habit, it works between independent traders of Kingston and locals to strengthen the local economy. More than 100 amazing and varied businesses in the borough accept the Kingston Pound, and are relying more than ever post COVID-19 on us, the community of people who either live, work, visit or go to school or college here, in an already vulnerable UK economy.
When the Kingston Pound moved to printed notes, Kingston School of Art students were banked on for their creative talent and designs include neighbourhood landmarks such as Kingston marketplace and Surbiton station. In contrast, the Brixton Pound, another local currency, features notable people with connections to the area such as David Bowie, while the Lewes Pound celebrates its community.
But with consumer spending going increasingly cashless, the Kingston Pound now exists electronically, with people able to pay businesses via a smartphone app and the Bristol Pound will relaunch as Bristol Pay in 2021 for the same reason. The Totnes Pound, which had launched in 2007, ended in 2019 because of the cashless economy and decline in usage of notes.
The benefits deriving from the Kingston Pound remain the same as those for other local currencies going cashless, with the focus being around reducing air and other transport miles and the idea of keeping the money circulating within the borough for as long as possible. 80% of it usually leaves the local economy immediately. Harnessing and ameliorating the local economy is important tool for saving our high street with many shop premises lying empty – even in affluent Surrey.
So, with the Kingston Pound placing locally owned businesses at the heart of the community, we have a shared opportunity to protect our borough from vacant shops, the collapse of local businesses and the onslaught of online retailing – assuming ongoing quality of choice.
Download the app, be part of the solution, help the borough recover with each pound spent. Search the Kingston Pound shopping directory at kingstonpound.org.
