Launch Day Speeches from Our Volunteers and Supporters
Before the ribbon got cut on Share Skipton’s grand opening day (party coverage and photos here), some of the people involved in the project stepped forward to say a few words.
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Mayor and consort, distinguished guests, you're really, really welcome here today and I want to thank you so much for giving up the time um to come and join us for our official launch.
Today is the culmination of over 18 months of hard work by a group of very committed volunteers which began towards the end of 2022 with a conversation between myself and Fiona Protheroe who's over at the back who was then the climate emergency Officer of the Craven District Council.
That conversation over a cup of coffee led to a public meeting in January 2023 which posed the question do we want a library of things in Skipton, and the answer from a very significant group of people – more than we expected, Fiona - was a resounding “yes!”. And there was the formation of a steering group from that day, and the aim of that group was to turn that idea into a reality. And most of the members of that steering group are here today, and I want to thank them for their initial act of faith and for their commitment and their hard work ever since.
So what is a ‘Library of Things’? Some of you already know, but simply put it is a place where people can borrow things they need to use occasionally for short periods of time, and by borrowing rather than buying new we can help people save money, save on storage space, and reduce the resources, the carbon emissions and the waste associated with the production of new things.
And by sharing stuff we can also promote a much greater sense of community and encourage a more sustainable lifestyle, which means it's good for individuals, it's good for the community, and it's good for the planet. And we're not alone, there are now over 60 Libraries of things in the UK and they're popping up all the time all over the country.
So our journey since that initial public meeting 18 months ago is actually summarized on the display board in our startup timeline, but it's included a huge range of things: we registered as a new charity, we carried out extensive research, we ran a community survey, we raised funds. We employed a development officer – who is filming at the back – we secured and refurbished these premises which we think is fab. We developed a website, we asked for donations of things, we recruited and trained volunteers, we created an online catalogue, and we're constantly communicating and promoting what we aim to do.
And we've been absolutely bowled over by the response from the people of Skipton. Over 140 people responded to our community survey last year which gave us really vital data. We were very fortunate to receive startup funding, first of all from I2Comply when we were still just a seed of an idea, and then Beyondly and North Yorkshire Council who gave us significant startup grants, and I want to thank them hugely for their support.
Over 230 Things have been donated, with more coming in every week, so thank you to every single person across Skipton and the surrounding areas who has donated. We've recruited 20 plus amazing volunteers with more coming forward all the time as Librarians, DIY Technicians, Communications and Marketing Support, Digital Technicians and Trustees, and they are the lifeblood of Share Skipton without whom we simply couldn't operate and I can't thank them enough for everything that they do, they really are wonderful.
And since first opening our doors on the 27th of July we've recruited 62 paid up members and completed 43 loans - I think actually I checked that last night, I bet it's gone up today. I want to thank the community of Skipton and surrounding areas for responding so positively to our call to borrow don't buy. At the moment we're open for two sessions a week Tuesdays 4 till 7 and Saturdays 10 till 1, but we plan to extend our opening hours as we recruit more volunteers. And to be as inclusive as possible we offer a concession membership with no questions asked, which reduces our borrowing fees by 50%, and we are committed to keeping our borrowing fees as low as possible. More information on membership and how it all works can be found over on our display table and also on our website which is www.ShareSkipton.org, and there's lots of trustees and volunteers here today, so I'm sure you've been speaking to some of them and they'll all be delighted to tell you more, so… can I just ask the volunteers and trustees just to reveal yourselves: if you’re a volunteer stick your hand up? Amazing, thank you, and a few in there.
So what next? Share Skipton's vision is to help create a more sharing, sustainable Skipton: creating and running a library of things was always our first priority but we also plan to set up repair cafés, which we hope to do in partnership with Craven College, and to promote and support reuse, repair, recycling and sharing in whatever ways we can.
And you can all help us by becoming members, borrowing from us, donating things, funding us, volunteering, and of course spreading the word to family and friends.
Before I finish and invite a couple of other people to say a few words, I just want to thank a few people. I want to thank Buy Nowt LS6 in Headingly and loads of other Libraries of Things across the country who have inspired and supported us with advice and information; Damien Cairnes, who helped us secure our lease; Reboot who donated two laptops; I2Comply for being our first funder; Beyondly, for believing in us and their fund for change grant; the UK shared prosperity team at North Yorkshire Council for giving us a community climate action grant; councillor Anne Soloway and David Noland who supported us with locality grants; Skipton Town Council for their community grants; Skipton Rotary for their donations from Eco Day; Skipton BID, who let us use their office space; and who let us use her garage for storage when our premises were being refurbished; Skipton Library, for support in so many ways; the Park Avenue Jazz Quartet for playing for us today; Malwina – stick your hand up Malwina - who has made our cake for us today, we'll cut this very soon and share it, I promise; the Share Skipton team, so Sam our development officer, my fellow trustees and all our volunteers; and last but not least the people of Skipton and surrounding areas, for their enthusiastic support. So thank you – and, you know, I don't think I introduced myself at the beginning, I'm Angela Monaghan and I’m the chair.
So that's it from me, thank you, um……..
[round of applause]
Before I invite the mayor to officially open us in a moment, I just want to invite a couple of our volunteers to say a few words about why they chose to support Share Skipton, and the first is Anna Hillyard, who is our volunteer digital technician, and she stepped up for us at the initial public meeting and amazingly offered to create a website for us and our branding - I mean, she was like an angel from heaven that day. I think we all think she's done an incredible job and we feel so lucky to have her on the team. Anna come and say a few words.
Anna
So I'm Anna, I, like Angela said, take care of the websites and some of the branding, sort of some of the -just sort of support in any way I can, like more with the digital side. So I went to the first meeting, like that kind of -the meeting with Lee from LS6, was really interested in what the plan was, like what a library of things was, I thought it was a fantastic thing. Selfishly, I personally have been frustrated when I've had to buy something, you know to do like a one-off.. I don't know, like fix something in the house and, you know, I’ve got to store the item, I think it's a fantastic thing. But also I just wanted to get involved and do something good for the community, and something good for the environment. My background is in e-commerce, so most of my career has been spent working on websites for online shops, so like building websites, managing websites, doing marketing, writing copy, making images, all sorts, so it just felt like it was a good opportunity to use my skills to do something that that would help others.
So yeah, got involved, I was involved in some of the early steering committee meetings doing- and it was quite obvious early on that we needed some branding and we needed to make some decisions and can start promoting ourselves. So I did the branding, created like all of the logos, the fonts, the colours, created the brand guidelines and then from there started work on the website, which was -just, I mean, I personally really enjoy doing that sort of thing, so it didn’t feel like work to me, and it was just a really nice thing to do with the support of Angela and Sam and, you know, input from everyone on what it should look like, and how it should work, and what information we needed there. So yeah it's still a bit of a work in progress, there's things that we want to improve on it, but I'd also just like to invite you, if there's anything that- any questions that you've had that you've gone to the website for and you haven't found an answer to, then just come and speak to me or send an e-mail, let us know, because it is a work in progress and, you know, we want to make sure that it is supporting as many people as possible.
[Applause]
Angela
Secondly, I'd like to ask David Noland - or councillor David Noland - to say a few words about the support given to us by North Yorkshire Council, but also maybe personally why you decided to support Share Skipton, because you're also one of our volunteers.
David
Thank you. Um, Angela’s kind of just said it all really. I am the councillor for this division, County Council, I’m also on the Town Council with Claire, and this just fits everything that, you know, if you’ve got a green attitude to life to, to not consume so much, to borrow, to share. It just fits everything Angela said – also, I don't to take your time, but I take great pride in that, just behind Claire there is my old drill, which I donated – in the red box – I bought that 23 years ago, I used twice in 23 years. You know, what a waste of resources and what a waste of my money! And then I was in here, working as a volunteer librarian last week and someone came borrowing it – brilliant, you know? You know, a great thrill that it’s actually getting used, and people don't have to buy it. It’s just so many things that Angela just referred to: the cost of living, cutting down consumerism, cutting down the waste – we all know there’s massive amounts of electricals just thrown away, uh, or just sitting in our garages just not being used. So, you know, it's not necessarily a question just because, even if you’ve got loads of money, why go buy a new thing you’ll leave in the garage. I think, I think that is the average use of a drill, twice in its lifetime: it’s stupid isn’t it, it's just beyond stupid.
So it just fits, and this is one of the things, I was sat around the coffee table and, as my partner George probably knows: “why didn't somebody organize a borrowing library, we should have one here!”. And then of course Angela and all her team, and Sam in particular have gone and done it and, you know, you did all of the work, I didn't do any kind of painting or anything, and just look at it, it's fantastic. So well done to all the team for putting in all the hard work, particularly to Sam who's always there when want do, like, “er, Sam, how’s this work?”, and we keep making mistakes but we're learning - sorry about all we're doing to your website, but we're learning and trying to do it properly, so well done to everybody and let them just get involved and borrow stuff. And lend: lend stuff, you've got it to lend, just bring it in, and give it away. Okay?
[round of applause]
Angela
And now I’d like to invite the Skipton Town Mayor, councillor Claire Nash, to say a few words before we cut the ribbon and then the cake. Thank you.
Claire Nash, Mayor
I think I will pass up the step. So, lovely to see so many people here, and so many volunteers, it's wonderful for Skipton to have so many volu- willing volunteers: other places are struggling with volunteers but Skipton seems to be doing very well, we're obviously all a very good lot. I know we're a very neighbourly lot, we were nominated as the most neighbourly place in England at one point, not so many years ago, three or four years ago.
Um, so this fits absolutely with the council's sustainability strategy which a number of us councillors have been plugging and have managed to get through the council, that we would tackle the climate emergency and other issues and we would have a sustainability strategy, and reuse is right up there in that sustainability strategy. And so it delights me that this is opening.
The other thing is that this might have a little bit to do with me because I come from Headingley, to Skipton, 14 years ago, yes, but -more than 14, 18 years ago, but, um, obviously I live in the right places because Headlingly’s also got one of these. Thanks to everybody who's helped to fund this.
I can see my husband kind of casing the joint because a few weeks ago he said “the hedge needs cutting”, and I said “well let's wait ‘til Share Skipton opens, ‘cause it's pointless to buy something we would only use once a year”. So I can see him-
“And it’s right there.”
I thought he was looking at me and then I started realising, he was looking at that!
Anyway, thank you all and I'm looking forward to cutting the ribbon and declaring Share Skipton open for business.
[Applause]
Angela
Could I invite the mayor and the consort, and if some of the guests…
Leslie
Can I just say that, you have done a great job of thanking everybody here, but it must be said that you are the driving, dynamic force behind this, without which, and Fiona, we would not be here, and the work that has gone in has been immeasurable and so appreciated. So can we have a big thank you for Angela.
[Applause]
Angela
So I like- we’re going to cut into the ribbon in the doorway, which I think is the normal thing, and if some guests would like to come out just onto the pavement around us, it would…
Afterword: Bravo! Thanks to everyone for their excellent speeches – including the impromptu one at the end – and to everyone else for coming along to listen and show their support! By the way, here are the Things referred to during the talks: David’s donated masonry drill and the long-awaited hedge trimmer.
Though overjoyed at everything we’d collectively achieved, we haven’t been resting on our laurels: we’ve since trained up new volunteers and helped them gain accredited qualifications where needed, increased our opening hours by adding a Thursday morning slot, and have introduced gift memberships to give everyone a more sustainable, affordable option this Christmas.
And, like the Mayor said, we’re lucky in that we’ve got a great little team of volunteers here; there’s a real mix of skills, creativity and personalities. The Library of Things hasn’t been open that long, so having everyone’s input and being able to learn from and support each other is immensely helpful.
Whether you’re looking for a way to connect with your local community, to have a genuine impact on people’s cost and quality of living in the area, or actively do something to combat the current climate emergency, find out how you can get involved at our Volunteer page. The experience will look great on your CV too: front and back of house roles available, with opportunities to take part in events and initiatives.
There are other ways to Support Us too. With 350 items available and new kinds donated every month, it’s clear people see the value in sharing what they have, borrowing not buying.
Don’t forget to sign up to our newsletter at the bottom of this page, where you’ll hear about top items and upcoming projects: our plans to run Repair Cafés next year are coming along nicely, for example. Come say hi on social media and in person as well!
