Share Bristol Bedminster takes first steps

On Wednesday 1st May, a group of dedicated volunteers and our Bedminster Library Manager, Lisa, opened the doors of Share Bristol Bedminster to the public for the first time. 

Whilst getting the new location fully up to speed is still a work in progress, we wanted people in south Bristol to have access to the Things they need sooner rather than later. So whilst volunteers clean, categorise, test, repair and service Thing donations at the Library of Things in East Street, people interested in joining Share Bristol can come in for a chat, sign up and start borrowing. 

The first week of lending saw six members borrow 12 Things, but only one of those members was brand new – the others have been borrowing from Share Bristol Kingswood for a while, but find that Bedminster is more convenient now it is open. 

TJ popped in to borrow a sander, and said, “I’m doing up my house and I’ve borrowed dozens of DIY tools from Share Bristol Kingswood, which has saved me so much money. Recently I wanted to borrow a sander but the type I wanted was only available at Share Bristol Bedminster on the day I needed it. So, I headed down to East Street to check out the new location and found it just as easy and convenient as usual – and it was nice to meet some different volunteers!”

For now, the Bedminster Library of Things is open on Wednesdays from 12 to 2pm and Saturdays from 10 to 2pm and has a limited number of Things to borrow. But with a grand opening planned for the middle of June, we are hopeful that over the next month we will receive many more donations of Things and many more local people signing up to be volunteers. 

If you can help with any of this, please let us know! You can find a list of Things we need here, and details of what volunteering for Share Bristol involves and how to sign up here.