Share Shacks

Share Shacks

A SPACE TO SHARE, LEARN, CREATE AND GROW

Our communities are full of resources, items, and people with different skills and knowledge. A sharing economy is a system built on the sharing of these resources, celebrating what’s already in communities with communities.

Sharing can help bring people together, build skills, reduce waste, and protect the environment, supporting a more sustainable way of living.

Sharing items, time, and skills to mend and repair things can not only save space, resources, and money by encouraging us to buy less, but can also help us to feel more connected to each other and the spaces around us.

Borrow, save, learn and share… at our welcoming Share Shacks.

Our Share Shacks are examples of how we can practice a sharing economy. They are an environmentally sustainable and money-saving alternative to buying occasional use items – supporting people and the planet. 

You can borrow anything from sports equipment, DIY tools, toys, cleaning and gardening equipment. Why buy big, expensive items when you can borrow them for free from a Share Shack?

It’s not all about access to equipment… Share Shacks are community spaces where we can come together, take part in local activities, get creative and learn new skills including how to mend, repair and reuse items.

Donations Needed!

Ready for a spring clean? If you have spare tools or sports or gardening equipment why not donate them to your local community Share Shack?

About Share Shacks

balsall_heath_shareshack

Share Shacks is an initiative in Birmingham and North Solihull delivered by The Active Wellbeing Society and funded by Sport England as part of the Active Communities Programme.

Do you want to try a new sport, meet new people, or learn a new skill? Share Shacks host activities where you can learn about how to fix things that are broken, discover new skills or participate in a social activity.

You can have a say in what activities take place at your local Share Shack. Find out more below on how to get involved.

Where are we?

Share Shacks can be delivered within an existing community venue, alongside spaces such as community cafés or even on a street.

Our pilot Share Shack in Ladywood, opened in August 2020 in a shop space. Our Balsall Heath Share Shack opened in October 2020 on St Paul’s Trust site next to a City Farm.  We run regular pop-up Share Shacks around Birmingham and North Solihull.  Two of our established pop-ups are at Nechells POD and Hobs Moat Community Café.

Who are we?

The Share Shacks are coordinated by the Sharing Team at The Active Wellbeing Society. We work with our colleagues from other teams across the organisation to enable communities to have access to more opportunities. We aim to listen to what is most needed in the areas we work in, for both the items available to borrow from the Share Shack and the activities available for you to join. We always love to hear new ideas so please email us at [email protected]

FAQs

Browsing the Share Shack catalogue and borrowing an item from us is super easy- and always free! If you have signed up for a Wellbeing card but this hasn’t arrived yet, you can still borrow items by using your Wellbeing card number.

A laminated inventory is available at the Share Shacks for those without internet access to select from.

Follow these simple steps to get borrowing:

  1. Sign up for a free Wellbeing card here: https://www.kineticinsightpro.com/birmingham/(cards can take up to 10 working days to arrive so please make a note of your Wellbeing card number to use in the meantime)
  2. Visit: https://shareshack.myturn.com/library/ to sign up for a myTurn account
  3. View the inventory of items at: https://shareshack.myturn.com/library/inventory/browse and make a reservation for a week if the item is available. You can extend the borrowing period up to 3 months.
  4. Collect the item from the Share Shack during open times (bring your ID and proof of address the first time you borrow)
  5. Enjoy using the item, and return back to the Share Shack on the date agreed

Items are checked and cleaned appropriately before the next loan. We ask you clean the item after use if you have the means to do so.

If the item is available, standard loan period is 2 weeks but this can be extended. Some very popular items are only available for 1 week at a time. If your item has not been reserved for use after you, you can extend your loan by logging into your myTurn account or by emailing us at: [email protected].

Yes you can borrow up to 3 items depending on availability at the time.

Feedback from people who have borrowed from the Share Shacks

Get in touch

For enquiries about the Share Shacks, as well as for general questions, please email: [email protected]

Active Communities useful links

We want to shed light on the positive stories of people working together, helping the community and looking after each other.