A History of SHARE
SHARE Frome was a social initiative by Edventure Frome in association with Frome Town Council and The Cheese & Grain.
The first of its kind, the idea for SHARE Frome was born in early 2015, as a partnership between Frome Town Council, social enterprise Edventure, Sustainable Frome and the Cheese and Grain, the local music and events venue.
The motive behind the idea was to reduce the carbon footprint of the town, by enabling borrowing instead of buying new, reducing material production and landfill waste. This in turn would save members money and space in their homes, as well as providing a community space for people to donate, volunteer, connect and build skills.
The set-up of the shop was undertaken by a group of eight young people in just two months, as part of specialist training in community entrepreneurship, run by Edventure. Much help was given by the local community in the form of advice, expertise, time, donations, opinions and enthusiasm!
Since then SHARE Frome has been growing and developing in the Frome community thanks to a team of hard-working volunteers and various managers. In 2017, a new team of six Edventure students undertook the challenge of taking SHARE Frome to the next level. With a revamp of the shop’s layout, appearance and storage space, as well as the introduction of a new volunteer scheme and social referral programme, the students turned SHARE Frome into an even more impactful community enterprise.
In 2020 the world changed and like the rest of the world, SHARE went into lockdown and remained closed for four months before reopening with a new click and collect model to see us through the pandemic era.
We are now embarking on a number of community projects that will shape a new SHARE which is not only a Library of Things but a community space inclusive for everybody in and around Frome. In 2023-2024 we hope to start a kids second-hand costume hire service, a local bike delivery service, an arts from waste project, skill sharing and life skills workshops and to welcome adults with autism and those seeking a little extra support with their mental health to come and spend time with us to gain work experience and social engagement.
Head over to our ‘membership‘ page to learn more about how the membership and borrowing process works, check out our projects page to catch up on what we’re up to, sign up to our newsletter and monthly magazine to hear news from SHARE and around the world through the words of local people or to support what we’re doing by giving time, money of sharing knowledge then take a look at our support us section…or come to the shop for a natter.
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