The coronavirus pandemic has hit many local businesses hard and, in a bid to help them recover, a new campaign has been launched to get people shopping locally.
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The campaign kicked off on Saturday and will run for five weeks.
Bendigo Bank branch manager Adele Griffin said it had joined forces with the Warrnambool City Council's Get Around Warrnambool campaign to give away $500 in vouchers each week to be used at local businesses.
"They don't get any cash, they have to select locally-owned stores and they will get the $500 in vouchers," Ms Griffin said.
She said that way the money went directly back into businesses.
"It's nice to get something up and going now. I think the timing's been right. We thought about doing this back 10 weeks ago when this all started," she said.
"I'm so glad we waited because there's obviously a lot more people getting around now, school's gone back and people are encouraged to go out and do some shopping."
The first winner of $500 worth of vouchers will be announced on Monday.
To enter, participants have to spend $20 at a locally-owned business in Warrnambool.
"It can be anywhere in Warrnambool, any sized business just to encourage people to start coming back and spend," Ms Griffin said.
Once their $20 purchase has been made, they can either upload a picture of their purchases to Facebook or Instagram, tag the businesses with the #getaroundwarrnambool and #bendigobank hashtags.
Those without social media can drop the receipt into the Bendigo Bank.
Those using social media must keep a copy of the receipt for proof of purchase.
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