New hire looks to maximise impact of Scotland Loves Local gift card
A NEW ambassador has been appointed to help drive up the awareness and impact of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card scheme across the country.
As the newly appointed merchant engagement ambassador, Lisette Bellizzi is set to work with over 7,400 businesses across the country who are part of the over 30 different Scotland Loves Local programmes across the country, including encouraging new merchants to join the initiaitve.
Lisette’s appointment comes ahead of Scotland Loves Local Week, which takes place between 23 August to 29 August in 2025.
Prior to her appointment, Lisette worked as a case worker for the Scottish Government and as Scottish ambassador for Change the World Model United Nations. Further to this, she founded Connecting Our Women – a support organisation for women to meet, network and support each other – and is an organiser for Gone Girl International, a volunteer powered organisation which creates communities around the world to help people connect with one another.
Lisette said: “As an organiser, I began looking for events and things to do locally. And this evolved into helping local businesses to spread the word about what they had going on.
“When I saw the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card merchant engagement ambassador program role come up, I thought to myself, ‘this is what I do now already, engaging with local businesses and helping them promote themselves and their services’.
“I knew I’d be able to bring my existing knowledge set to the role to support over 7400 merchants who are part of the programs, and encourage even more to join!
“For merchants, the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card is a win-win. It’s free to be a part of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card program, and brings new customers and new revenue.Â
The gift card scheme, which was first introduced by Scotland’s Towns Partnership in 2021, has generated £16million in spend to date across the country.
It is supported by tech firm Miconex and aims to provide communities with a tangible means to retain spend in their local area and provide support for local businesses of all shapes and sizes.
Kimberley Guthrie, Scotland’s Town Partnership’s chief officer, said: “The opportunities for businesses to benefit from the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card are significant.
“So much has been achieved since its launch, but we know that there is huge potential for the card to drive even more trade and success for local businesses. Lisette will play an important role in helping to unlock that potential. It’s great to have her as part of the team.”
