Since Jo Watkins opened Darn It and Stitch, in Blue Boar Street, off St Aldates, three years ago, it has become a magnet for anyone who loves needlework or knitting.

It stocks hundreds of different yarns, knitting needles, patterns, zips, buttons and ribbons.

Just as importantly, Mrs Watkins has made her business a key part of the community by running workshops and launching knitting and needlework circles.

It is an example of how independent shops and businesses can offer something different and bring people together.

But although many of us buy goods and services which minimise our impact on the environment, or Fair Trade products to help farmers in the Third World, it is easy to forget about supporting the traders who make up our local economy.

As much as 70p in every pound spent in local independent businesses stays in the local economy, according to figures from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies.

The Celebrate an Independent Christmas campaign launched last year reminds shoppers that buying from independents offers a more personal experience.

It says that everyday decisions about how and where to buy anything from bread to a new dining room table make a huge difference.

Spending in independent shops and businesses helps create more jobs and wealth locally.

Oxford has a number of family-run independent businesses that are a key part of its history. Boswell’s department store, in Broad Street, has been trading for more than 250 years.

Founder Francis Boswell sold luggage, and when in1890 the last of the Boswells died out, Arthur Pearson, of the Oxford Drug Company, took over.

His great-grandchildren, cousins Jonathan and Sarah Pearson, run the company today and are proud they are part of the store’s extraordinary heritage.

Another example is independent hardware shop Silvester’s Stores, in Magdalen Road, East Oxford.

Father and son Bert Silvester, 88, and Stuart, 47, work in the business, which has been there for more than a century.

But it is not just shops which offer a chance to buy local; building firm Savvy Maintenance and Renovation, in Headington, is run by brothers Stephen, David and James Dunne.

Lean Cost Management is another local enterprise, launched recently by Richard Gardiner and bomb disposal expert Lance Corporal Scott Parker. The duo help Oxfordshire firms find the best deals on electricity, gas and other supplies.

Many local traders are hoping plans to give Oxford its own currency next year take off.

The scheme, which copies similar ones in Bristol, Lewes and Brixton, would use an ‘Oxford pound’ instead of normal cash, to keep money in the local economy.

Meanwhile, traders say just talking about it is a help, as it reminds people they can choose to support local shops when they splash out this Christmas.