THE Ilkley BID’s first ever Christmas Campaign saw 50 businesses taking part in an Elf Trail, with families hunting hidden elves around town, and one lucky participant winning a necklace from Nicholson’s Jewellers in a prize draw competition.

Ilkley BID Manager, Helen Rhodes said: “The Christmas Elf Trail Campaign was a great success. At Ilkley BID we are looking to create and promote events that support local businesses as well as developing initiatives to maximise footfall to the town, so we were very pleased with the response from both the public and local businesses to our first Christmas Campaign.”

The Elf Trail saw over 50 toy elves being placed in windows around town. It ran throughout December in Ilkley town centre and saw over 60 families taking part including one who set out after school to find the elves saying that ‘There are so many shops we’ve never looked in properly before’.

All those who completed and returned their Elf Sheets were entered into a draw, with prizes including a necklace from Nicholson’s worth £55 and two sets of gift vouchers for £20 each.

Elaine Nicholson said: “Nicholsons were delighted to offer a small prize to the Elf Trail to give the adults a little encouragement to follow the Trail.”

The family friendly Elf Trail was part of Ilkley BID’s ‘It’s an Ilkley Christmas’ campaign aiming to encourage more people to visit and shop in Ilkley over the festive season. In addition to the trail Ilkley BID also produced and distributed a Christmas Gift guide, featuring gift ideas from local retailers, which was also supported by an online social media campaign.

Helen added: “Promoting Ilkley and supporting businesses is a key objective for Ilkley BID and so we are already looking towards planning for next December. We would like to hear from any local business about their ideas for building on our “It’s an Ilkley Christmas” campaign in 2021.”