Shared Perspectives: a Look Inside Share Skipton’s Launch Party
There’s a lot to celebrate lately at Share Skipton: the completion of a successful and informative trial period, passing the 300-item milestone …oh, and our official launch on the first Saturday of September! There couldn’t have been a better excuse for a get-together!
Before doors opened to the public on the 7th of September, volunteers switched the Newmarket Street Library of Things to party mode, using only items stocked by the library itself. See if you can spot them throughout.
More party and catering items »
As guests filtered in and waited for the speeches, it gave Share Skipton backers the opportunity to meet and discuss their own reasons for getting involved. Amongst the crowd were fellow volunteers, representatives from other community groups, and a host of other people who’ve supported us along the way:
Co-founder Angela Monaghan then gave a brief overview and history of the Share Skipton community project, followed by a few kind words from Skipton’s mayor, Councillor Claire Nash. Next, we heard from two of our early volunteers – Anna Hillyard (website and design) and David Noland (librarian) – who explained the parts they play and what sustainability means to them. We’ll have the speeches themselves up on the website for you soon!
The forecast for later this morning had been rain, so we were relieved to find it still dry and (relatively) bright when we stepped outside for the ribbon-cutting ceremony!
Using a borrowed pair of garden shears to cut the ribbon, the Library of Things is declared open by Skipton’s town mayor. (shame nobody’s donated a chainsaw yet)
Everyone got a chance to snap a few pictures before heading back inside for another highly-anticipated cutting… the cake!
Plate up! Lorna, Sam, Joanna, Fiona and Angela cutting into the cake.
Formalities over, attendees caught up with anyone they hadn’t met yet and were free to browse the collection of Things, all to the relaxing tones of local Park Avenue Jazz Quartet.
Thank you again to everyone who attended, as well as those who couldn’t - a good day all round. The first few lucky customers even found themselves with an unexpected slice of cake and cup of tea!
Now that the celebrations are over, the real work can begin! Share Skipton lends useful items at a fraction of the monetary and environmental cost of everyone buying their own. Members save on storage space and know where to find the right tool for the occasion, while donors and volunteers take pride in seeing items put to their full potential within the community.
There really is something for everyone, with more items donated all the time. To explore our Library of Things, start by visiting the Borrow tab at the top of this page.
And as you’ve seen from our launch event, there are lots of ways you can Support Us: for example, an additional two librarians would mean the world to us, letting us open an extra day each week.
Or, if you’d like to learn more about what drives us, see the About page or browse our other articles.
Finally, why not sign up to the Share Skipton newsletter to stay informed of other stories and future events? Scroll all the way down to find the Sign Up button! ↆ ↆ ↆ
Cheers!