Your chance to win an East Ayrshire Gift Card in ‘Great Gift Card Giveaway’

A Great Gift Card Giveaway has been planned to celebrate five years of the East Ayrshire Gift Card, giving shoppers an instant chance to win a gift card purely for shopping local.

Between 29 August and 11 September, all of the many businesses which are part of the East Ayrshire Gift Card will be handing out small cards to their customers featuring a QR code. This code links to an online game which will reveal if the customer has won an East Ayrshire Gift Card.

During the campaign East Ayrshire Gift Cards totalling £700 will be given away including a £300 gift card and 20 x £20 Gift Cards.

The East Ayrshire Gift Card was introduced in August 2020 as a means to drive footfall into East Ayrshire and keep money locked in locally. Over £450,000 of East Ayrshire Gift Cards have been sold to date. 

Councillor Ian Linton, Cabinet Mamber for Resources and Economy, East Ayrshire Council  said “This Great Gift Card Giveaway is an opportunity to celebrate the huge success of the initiative over the past five years: “The East Ayrshire Gift Card has been a powerful force to support people, places and businesses over the past five years.

“Our Community Led Regeneration, working with local businesses brought it in to offer shoppers an alternative to generic giftcards from large shopping chains while giving recipients the choice to spend in a huge range of businesses.

“People and organisations have used it in many innovative ways, proving it’s not just useful for occasional gifts.

“During the pandemic and cost of living crisis we were able to use it to provide  families with funds with dignity. Companies have used it for their staff as corporate rewards, for staff bonuses and incentives.  At the same time it has still been very popular as a local gift card option for everything from birthdays to Christmas, all benefiting our local businesses.

“East Ayrshire residents and organisations have adopted the East Ayrshire Gift Card as their own, and we want to say ‘thank you’ with our Great Gift Card Giveaway. People simply need to shop local for their chance to win an East Ayrshire Gift Card to spend with 230 businesses.”

Kilmarnock Football Club is the oldest professional football club in Scotland and one of the 230 businesses who accept the East Ayrshire Gift Card. Gregg McEwan, General Manager at Kilmarnock Football Club said: “Kilmarnock Football Club is one of the biggest retailers in East Ayrshire, and when we first heard about the East Ayrshire Gift Card launching in 2020, we knew it was an initiative we wanted to support as part of our wider strategy to support our community.

"We are extremely active in the community, for example, through our Killie Community, a charity that uses football as a force for good. We see the East Ayrshire Gift Card as a force for good within the community too, and a way that the community can work together to support the local area. 

“A lot has been achieved with the East Ayrshire Gift Card already. For the East Ayrshire Gift Card I think it’s a case of keeping the momentum going and continuing the positive work of the card to support local people, places and communities.”

The East Ayrshire Gift Card is part of the award-winning Town & City Gift Card concept from fintech Miconex, active across the UK and Ireland. 

Colin Munro is the CEO of Miconex. He said: “The East Ayrshire Gift Card has been a trailblazer for local gift cards in Scotland and a source of inspiration for the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card concept, demonstrating the wide use cases for local gift cards. The Great Gift Card Giveaway is a fitting tribute to a successful lfive years for the East Ayrshire Gift Card.”