With funding still available from Herefordshire Council’s scheme to help local retailers recover from the pandemic, prepaid shop local cards have been topped up with an additional £10.

Nearly 60,000 households in the county applied for their shop local prepaid card. Cardholders were asked to keep their card in case of funding being available for a later top-up. The additional £10 is automatically being added to the cards, but the money still needs to be spent before the 31 March 2022 deadline.

If you have already used your card to make a purchase, it should now work contactless. If you want to check the balance (at any ATM) you will need your PIN. If you have forgotten your PIN you will need to contact 0330 808 0965.

Or if you have lost or disposed of your card, you can contact us before March 21 to request a new one at [email protected] or on 01432 260000 – you will need to provide all the details you originally applied with including your name, address and date of birth.

Residents who haven’t yet activated their card are urged to follow the activation steps using the instructions on the letter it came with, and spend their £25 before the cards expire. If you need help contact us at [email protected] or on 01432 260000.

Cllr Ellie Chowns, Cabinet member for environment and economy, said: “We are delighted to be able to add an extra £10 onto each shop local prepaid card to help boost local recovery from the impact of the Covid pandemic.

“We’ve had fantastic feedback from residents and businesses about the shop local scheme. There are a number of studies that show how money spent locally tends to stay local, so this scheme is not only benefitting retailers and producers, but the whole of the Herefordshire economy.

“However, this money will not be available to spend after March 31 so I urge anyone who has yet to activate their card — or who still has money left on an active card — to take advantage of the scheme now.”

The Shop Local scheme is designed to help local producers and retailers and is part of a wider £6million council programme, funded through the government’s covid recovery fund, to boost the local economy, including free weekend bus travel, grants for small businesses and a phone app to reward local shopping.

Latest figures show that cardholders have used their shop local prepaid cards in over 1,600 businesses in Herefordshire, with more than £425,000 spent, and proved to be a real benefit as they look to recover from the impact of Covid.