Lesley Turner, general manager of Cote, Alison Shaw and Stephanie Kerr, of BID Leamington.
Love will be in the air for visitors to Leamington’s town centre shops and restaurants this month.
The town’s retailers and restaurateurs have teamed up to support BID Leamington’s annual Love Leam month - which showcases Leamington and all it has to offer - and this year the challenge is to be the kindest town in the country.
Inspired by the random acts of kindness movement, which encourages people to perform selfless acts to brighten others’ days, traders are basing this year’s extravaganza around spreading goodwill.
To help things along they will be donating meal and drink vouchers, chocolates, surprise prizes and flowers to give to people at random.
So far around 20 businesses are contributing to the campaign, including Côte, a newly opened French bistro based in Regent Court, and Neal’s Yard, an organic health and beauty store in Regent Street which will be offering free facials and drop-in sessions – and more are joining every day.
The Love Leam month will kick-start on Sunday when businesses work to paint the town red by staging red window displays and placing hundreds of red balloons around the town centre.
Highlights of the Love Leam Month include Goldilocks and the Three Bears at the Spa Centre, a flower workshop, film showings, wine tastings, and a meet and greet with artist and TV personality, Timmy Mallett, at Whitewall Galleries in Regent Street.
Stephanie Kerr, executive director of BID Leamington, said: “The idea behind Love Leam is to showcase lots of different aspects of the town and help people discover new things to enjoy in a fun and light-hearted way.
“As we look to build on spreading the goodwill that began at Christmas time, we loved the idea of random acts of kindness and felt it was an ideal theme to help us highlight the best the town has to offer.
A new addition this year is the ‘Love Leam Challenge’, which will run from Sunday to Sunday March 13.
Entrants are invited to take part in a set of fun challenges around the town centre, which highlight Leamington’s rich retail, dining and culture, in a bid to win a shopping spree worth £250.