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Lending shed offers garden tools to disco lights

Louise Parry
BBC News, Hertfordshire
Reporting fromLetchworth Garden City
Dawid Wojowitz/BBC The manager of the store, Ben Mair, stands in front of the kitchen and baking section of the store. He's wearing a navy blue polo shirt and a pale blue apron with a brown shed on it. Ben has a greyish goatee and short hair. He's looking directly at the cameraDawid Wojowitz/BBC
Members can borrow anything from kitchen appliances to party gear at the community shed

A community enterprise that lends out anything from garden tools to disco lights is seeing a boom in popularity since sharing its story.

Letchworth Garden Shed in Hertfordshire is essentially a library for items which are useful but rarely required.

On Saturday it is running a "mini conference" about how to run a similar scheme, with people coming from as far as Cambridge, Lincoln and East London to learn more.

"We've been very fortunate to have quite a thoughtful community with people who have a thing they're not using and think, 'somebody, somewhere, could make use of it," said team member Andy Mclean.

Dawid Wojowitz/BBC A 74-year-old man is wearing a blue and red polo shirt and a pale blue/grey apron with a brown shed on the front. He's looking down at an orange power tool which comes up to his hip and looks like a leaf shredder. To his left is his work bench which is covered in electrical testing equipment. Behind that is a row of shelves holding random objects such as bunting and guitars. Over his right shoulder is a white board and magnets have been arranged on it to say 'party time'.Dawid Wojowitz/BBC
Len, who used to test power tools for a living, volunteers at the shed because he found retirement boring

The shed only opened in 2023 but has seen a recent boost to almost 1,000 members after appearing on national television.

About 800 items are available to rent for £1, £4 or £8 a week, including pizza ovens, power tools, walking frames and gazebos.

The volunteers reckon it has saved members nearly a quarter of a million pounds, by borrowing rather than purchasing elsewhere.

The majority of the items have been donated, but the shed does use some of the money it raises to invest in bigger power tools.

Dawid Wojowitz/BBC Cecilia wears dark blue dungarees and an apron but has her back to the camera. She is placing kitchen appliances on a shelf in the shed. In the foreground there is a carpet cleaner and a dehumidifier.Dawid Wojowitz/BBC
All manner of appliances are available for borrowing at the shed

Cecilia Ho shared how she was saving about £1,000 on her upcoming wedding by sourcing crockery, bunting, popcorn and candyfloss machines - and even her cake stand.

"I was really excited, because I'd heard of a library of things in London but never found it.

"I just walked past the Letchworth shed on the high street. It's saving us lots of money but the main thing is we can also put a lot of character into our wedding at such an affordable price," she said.

Mr Mclean said: "When we first started, our project leader made trips to various 'libraries of things' around the country, so it's no surprise that people are now doing that for us - asking us how to start one, what procedures to go through.

"At our mini conference, we can share our experience and other people can give their ideas."

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