Small Business Saturday is tomorrow on 3rd of December and is a nationally and world-wide recognised day, created to make the public think more about those smaller and independent businesses. Here in Barnsley there are a few things on that you can go and support this brilliant day and all the local businesses in this crucial time of the run up to Christmas.

The first simple steps you can take is just to simply go and look in the independent shops and purchase something from them. Like you would in the high street shops but venture a little further out, maybe head down the Victorian Arcade or buy handmade items at a craft fair instead of online. A lot of ways to buy from small businesses are the same ways as buying from large businesses, you walk into a small local shop the same way as walking into Primark. When you buy from a small business, you are feeding the economy in so many ways and you are buying a truly individual and unique item.

There is an Etsy Made Local Craft Fair running inside the Digital media centre near Barnsley's bus station, full of local handmade businesses in conjunction with the Crafty Business Network. Etsy is an online shop platform for businesses that hand make a range of items that are different to the normal high street items. The Crafty Business Network Barnsley is a group of people based here that come together to help each other with monthly meet ups, talks, workshops and more. Etsy are holding these craft fairs across the UK and Crafty Biz volunteered to host the Barnsley event. It is set inside the Digital Media Centre, just behind the Courthouse car park, which is a hub of digitally based businesses as well as other smaller local ones. The event is set to coincide with the Small Business Saturday to create more of an occasion and a buzz around the whole lot, plus they are also giving away goodie bags to the first 50 attendees!

All council ran car parks are free every Saturday in the town centre, this can help massively to the shoppers and can be surprising how many people still don't know about this. This also means the whole car park surrounding the Digital Media Centre is free, making it a whole lot easier to visit the Etsy Made Local Event.

Emily Sharp Fashion Designer is having a stock clearance sale from their studio in Mirfield (slightly out of Barnsley). She sells all handmade womenswear, menswear and childrenswear in amazing quality and these sale prices are absolute bargains for the craftsmanship that has gone into them. The studio is at 1 King Street, Mirfield, West Yorkshire WF14 8AW and is on 10am-4pm, visit the website here www.emilysharpfashion.co.uk

BagLadyBird have a special offer on for a 1-to-1 sewing lesson about getting to know your sewing machine. This is an hour's lesson based at their home sewing studio in Bawtry (outside of Barnsley but in South Yorkshire) and can be booked for a date during January for just £30. If you're getting a sewing machine for Christmas, this is a perfect session to learn all the ins and outs of your machine or as a gift to go with the sewing machine that you have bought for someone else. You can visit the below link to purchase a £30 gift voucher and then it will be posted out with 48 hours and the date can be booked at your convenience afterwards. www.paypal.me/BagLadyBird/30 You can also visit their Facebook Page for more information here www.facebook.com/bagladybird

[gallery ids="3412,3413" type="rectangular"]

Klue Doll Bridal & Fashion are doing a special 10% off their chokers & lashes for today only, more options are available on their facebook page. You can either drop them a message on their page or send an email to info@kluebykellyann.com. See more on their page here www.facebook.com/KlueDoll

Know of any other Small Biz Saturdays offers, events and other happenings? Use the contact form to let us know and we'll add them here.