"We want people to buy less, and repair, reuse and recycle rather than throwing things away."

Tell us about your organisation?

The Library of Stuff allows the community in and around Hull to borrow items they need, rather than buying them. We have more than 800 items ranging from carpet cleaners, tools and folding tables to badge makers, bike trailers and table decorations. We charge a small fee for people to borrow them for a week.

Together with FCC Environment and Dove House Hospice’s Re-Use Shop, we also run a Ravagers Club for children to dismantle old items and see how they work, and hopefully sow the seeds for them to fix things later in life.

And we co-host a repair café each month, along with Unity in the Community.

How did you start up?

I grew up taking things apart with my dad. Make-do-and-mend was the norm in our house, and we kept things going by repairing them rather than putting them in the bin. I remember coming home one day and finding a new chair in the front room. My mum said: ‘That was your old bed’.

Then a few years ago I bought a second-hand film scanner to share some old negatives. I sold it afterwards for the same price, and I noticed the same scanner had been bought and sold about 20 times. Everyone was just borrowing it. It got me thinking about whether there was a better way to reuse the same thing.

I started the library in my garage, seeding it with lots of my own things. I’d always kept things I thought could be useful. Before I started the library it felt a little close to hoarding but now I’ve got a really positive way to use everything.

How do you make a difference?

All aspects of our work promote a circular economy. We want people to buy less, and repair, reuse and recycle rather than throwing things away. This saves people a lot of money, and it’s much better for the environment too.

The response from people using the library has been really positive. They like the information and tips we provide, and the fact they don’t have to shell out for expensive items they might only use once. Not spending money on stuff is really enlightening for so many people. It’s much better for them financially, and it’s much better for the environment too. We’ve calculated that using the library has saved the community nearly £250,000 in not buying new items, and this has saved 136 tonnes of carbon too.

How did social investment help you?

We’ve been lucky to get two social investment grants. The first was in 2021 for £29,855 through the Enterprise Development Programme delivered by Social Investment Business, and it allowed me to move the library out of my garage (and some parts of my house, much to my wife’s relief) into bigger premises.

The money covered the rent, other expenses and allowed me to take a wage. Until then, I’d been working in other part time roles too.

"But the best thing about the grant was the emotional and psychological support."

There were about 10 of us who got grants from the same programme, and we met regularly to talk about how our projects were progressing. Like many of the others, I was running my project largely on my own, and to be able to talk to other people about anything from IT systems to just how I was feeling was a hugely helpful part of my journey.

The second grant was for £25,000 from Social Investment Business's Cost of Living fund a year later and this enabled us to move again to a bigger site in Endike Lane in Hull. It’s (slightly) more luxurious with carpets and heating, which has made it easier to find willing volunteers to come and help.

The second grant has also enabled us to trial using lockers to store items in other locations, to make things easier for people to access.

Library of Stuff impact:

136 tonnes of CO2 saved by borrowing rather than buying, the same amount used driving a car more than 1 million miles

5714 items lent to the community

4309 consumables, such as sandpaper, sold to prevent additional journeys

£247,324 saved collectively by borrowing instead of renting or buying

More than 800 items available to borrow from a jet washer to a chocolate fountain

3,000 people registered to borrow

Average 77 new members a month

Repair Café has saved half a tonne of C02 and £3,814 from not buying new items

What does the future look like for the Library of Stuff?

I’m really excited with our locker trial. We’re using them for our most popular items and it could enable us to reach lots more people who perhaps can’t get to our main site. The lockers should return a profit after just a year, so they could generate significant income in the longer term.

We’re also looking to take on two more paid staff to support our Ravagers Club, and I’d really like for our repair café, which currently runs once a month, to take place more often.

We’re currently putting together a larger bid for financial support to help us to grow in these ways. Our aim is very much to generate more income and be self-funded, without being reliant on grants in future.

As a society, it feels like we’ve been told to ‘keep on buying stuff’. But our wallets and the planet are poorer for it. The library has evolved from just an idea in my head into something that’s now really important for the community and I had no idea it would be so enjoyable. Most of my previous professional life has been in corporate worlds but this is so much more rewarding.

Amount invested: £29,855 grant from Enterprise Development Programme and £25k grant from Cost of Living Fund → Date of grant: February 2021 and December 2023 → Product type: Enterprise Development Grant and Cost of Living support grant → Programme: Enterprise Development Programme and Cost of Living Fund

To find out more about social investment and how it could support your organisation, visit Good Finance.

To find out more about Access - The Foundation for Social Investment, visit our website.