The National Lottery Community Fund has awarded the Network of Wellbeing £252,316 over four years for the Share Shed – A Library of Things and activities to encourage sharing and repairing in South Devon. Here, our Projects Manager, Mirella Ferraz, explains what the funding means and how it will help us to create a stronger and more connected, sharing and repairing community.
I want to share some fantastic news. After 18 months of back and forth, they said “Yes!”
Over the next four years, the National Lottery Community Fund will give us £252,316 to deliver an ambitious new project called “Happier People and Stronger Communities through Share and Repair in South Devon”. The project builds on years of passion and dedicated collaboration and secures the future of the Share Shed – for the next four years at least. What’s more, it frees us do even more to promote sharing and repairing in the seven communities we serve. We couldn’t be more excited about what’s to come.
The Share Shed
At its heart, the Share Shed exists to support people and the planet through the power of sharing. As the world’s first mobile library of things, it travels weekly to Totnes, Buckfastleigh, Ashburton, Dartington, South Brent, Kingsbridge and Ivybridge, offering over 350 useful items to borrow — from tools and gardening equipment to kitchen appliances, camping gear and more.
The National Lottery Community Fund has been instrumental in supporting the Share Shed since it was founded in a small garage in Totnes in 2017. We first got going with a small grant from its Awards for All Programme. We then secured another to run our first ShareFest in 2018. In 2019, we won the People’s Projects, a public vote run by the Fund in association with ITV, which allowed us to go mobile in 2021. We’re thrilled that they have decided to support us once again.
Sharing More, Wasting Less, Connecting Stronger
Since 2017, we’ve made over 6200 loans to over 3200 people, helping them to make their lives better while saving more than £430,000 and 283 tonnes of carbon dioxide.
With this new support, we’ll be able to:
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provide thousands more people with access to affordable, convenient borrowing;
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offer free memberships to low-income households while running a pay-it-forward scheme;
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support Repair Cafés and run skill-sharing workshops to help people learn new practical skills;
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host community events to increase awareness of sharing and repairing locally;
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reduce CO₂ emissions by promoting reuse over consumption;
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strengthen wellbeing, resilience and community identity through collaborative action.
Building Community and Sustainability
In addition, this funding will also help us:
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train and support more volunteers in repairs, events, and outreach;
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grow the Share Shed’s income through increased trading;
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expand and deepen partnerships with and between other sharing projects in the areas we serve.
This funding will enable us to help thousands of people save money, learn valuable skills, reduce their environmental impact, and feel more connected to their communities. We hope it will also help us to build stronger connections between the many sharing and repairing projects in our area so that the sharing and repairing community is stronger and more resilient in the future.
We are deeply grateful to the National Lottery Community Fund and the players of the National Lottery – and to everyone who’s helped make this project what it is—our members, partners and dedicated volunteers.
What’s Next?
Visit www.shareshed.org.uk to find out more, get involved, or become a member.
Together, we can help people and communities thrive—one borrowed item at a time.