VIEWERS will see TV’s Kirsty Allsopp shown how to make an environmentally friendly Christmas cracker tonight – thanks to a Dorset business which is offering workshops for local shoppers.

Kim Lam, who runs a successful cracker business in Poole, was sought out by the producers of Kirsty’s Handmade Christmas.

Her business, Heart and Soul Studio, has just launched a new brand, Fox and Fawn, whose crackers will be exclusively available at Bobby & Co in Bournemouth.

It will also be offering workshops in the store from tomorrow, Saturday, December 4, showing how to make a sustainable crackers.

Kim said she had been approached by the producers of the Channel 4 show.

“They had heard of us and approached us to see if we would be willing to take part, what could we do and what could we create,” she said.

She has created a cracker in which every part can be reused, apart from the small strip on the cardboard “snapper” which makes the bang.

“It was nice that we could make parts that you could reuse year in, year-out and it fitted within the show, it being about crafting ideas,” she added.

The approach coincided with Kim and daughter Aimee Lam launching Fox and Fawn. It has made six varieties of handmade, sustainably sourced crackers, for sale in Bobby & Co, in the former Debenhams building in Bournemouth town centre. The crackers contain local products including vodka, perfume, a hand-rolled beeswax candle and bee wrap sustainable food wrapping.

Designer Aimee said: “We’ve decided in launching Fox and Fawn to go back to our roots – handmade in Dorset with lots of collaboration with local companies.”

Aimee has worked on interior design products such as the W hotel in Barcelona and One Park Drive in Canary Wharf. She became head of innovation at the family business after moving back from London to Dorset two years ago to have son Fox, who gave his name to the business.

Heart and Soul, which employs 23 people at Poole’s Holes Bay, makes crackers for the likes of Fortnum and Mason and Selfridges.

“We have a really talented creative team in the studio that work really super-hard, that create many big designs for the most difficult of customers. We used their skills to design something here,” said Aimee.

She added: “I am so passionate about collaborating with the community where I grew up and delivering crackers which showcase the very best of what Dorset and Hampshire has to offer. What better way to support small businesses at Christmas and give customers a real taste of the south coast?”

Fox and Fawn crackers are exclusive to Bobby & Co this year, but the aim is to bring them to other retailers next year, along with other products such as gift wrap, gift bags, cards and ribbons.

“All the products that we’ll be coming out with under the Fox and Fawn brand are all sustainable, locally sourced and made in the UK,” said Aimee.

n Christmas cracker making workshops take place on the first floor of Bobby & Co on December 4, 11 and 18. Kirstie’s Handmade Christmas is on Channel 4 today, Friday, December 3, at 8pm.