Business Chamber shop local campaign: Tamworth mum's tragedy leads to new car win in shop local campaign

In March Noelene Griffiths' daughter Teagan had to put down her beloved dog, a pet the family had had for 16 years.

Noelene was on holiday at the time.

When she got home her daughter gave her a beautiful gift to comfort her, some flowers from Designer Bunches.

"She bought me a big beautiful bunch of flowers when I got home because she didn't know how I was going to cope. And I was cleaning up the next day and I found the docket. She said to me you should enter that mum and I said I never win anything but I'll have a go, so I did. I entered it," she said.

"It was just her kind heart."

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The gift was worth more than she could know.

Noelene's docket was drawn and she became one of 10 hopeful finalists in the running for the ultimate prize.

The tension was palpable as they gathered in Tamworth's Fitzroy Plaza on Saturday to have a chance at becoming the winner of the shop local campaign.

She was just the third to draw a car key.

When she turned the key in the passenger door, it opened.

Noelene initially didn't appear to realise what that meant: she was the owner of a brand new Skoda Fabia.

The Tamworth mum was happy enough just to be a finalist.

"Just winning the key was amazing. I walked around all day and I had a smile from one ear to the other ear. It was amazing," she said.

Tamworth Business Chamber President Stephanie Cameron said the Think Local Shop Local had been a great success for the city's economy and had generated over $2.6 million in the last four years.

Business chamber manager Bryan O'Connor said there had been about as many entrants in 2021 as last time.

The car was a particularly good present, he said.

"What a phenomenal prize, people get holidays and things but they can have that for the next 10 years and longer," he said.

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