Action Against Litter Newsletter – Issue 8

The ScrapStore encourages our local community to reduce waste by promoting reuse and recycling. Craft items are donated and saved from landfill, allowing people to get creative while supporting sustainability.

It is run by a dedicated team, including volunteers with and without a learning disability, and all proceeds go to East Kent Mencap and their work to support people with a learning disability.

The ScrapStore started around the time of the lockdown after being inspired by a similar set-up in London. I’ve been volunteering for three years and was recently appointed as The ScrapStore Project Officer. East Kent Mencap has a wonderful listed building, Foresters Hall, in Ramsgate, which was the ideal space to set up The ScrapStore. The project provides volunteering opportunities, offering experience in a sales environment, using the till, interacting with customers, and sorting donations. Since The ScrapStore received funding from the Thanet District Council Shared Prosperity Fund, we have been able to open for a further two days a week, so we are now open Wednesday-Saturday from 10am-2pm.

All stock is donated. People turn up and hand over bags of supplies relevant to The ScrapStore – fabric, yarn, haberdashery, crafting materials etc. We especially welcome large pieces of fabric and yarn. It’s often donated by people sorting out their crafting supplies, perhaps they have finished with a project or moved on to another hobby and are making space. Or it could be from someone clearing out materials that belonged to a relative, which is how we sometimes get some lovely old vintage pieces.

We have a very varied client base of all ages. We mostly have people shopping for bits for their own use, but also parents and teachers buying supplies for the classroom and after-school clubs, coming to us as we offer affordable options to help them run fun, creative groups, and activities. Some customers come looking for specific things to complete a project and others just come to be inspired by what they find. Most customers are local to Thanet, but we often find people have made a special trip from Canterbury or even further afield as there is nothing else like this in the area.

It has saved over four tonnes of crafting materials out of landfills. If people buy too much or lose interest, instead of being thrown away, their materials can go on to be used by someone else via The ScrapStore.

As well as the environmental impact, it provides valuable volunteering opportunities for people with and without a learning disability, offering upskilling and building confidence. It also raises money for East Kent Mencap and is a very affordable option for our crafty customers. We run a system where people can fill a basket for £5 (although people can donate more if they would like to), so it’s very economical. It’s important for people to have access to craft materials and equipment, as creativity helps mental health and should be something everyone can get involved in if they want to. We all work as part of the team here, so it’s very inclusive. It’s also just a lovely community hub that draws in people with a common interest, so customers, volunteers, and employees often get chatting and make connections.

We are always looking for volunteers, especially on Saturdays, so anyone interested should email;elizabeth.cake@eastkentmencap.co.uk.

We also need donations of craft supplies and would welcome any from companies and businesses as well as individuals, so if there are any out there who would like to donate fabrics, yarn etc, we’d encourage them to get in touch. Also, we do love it when people tag us in their Instagram posts (@scrapstore.ekm) showing what they have made with our stock.

It is great that we are now open four days a week and have more volunteers involved with the project. We have noticed customer numbers going up and donations increasing, so we want that to continue. Looking ahead, we are exploring how we can expand the volunteering side for younger people with a learning disability.

The ScrapStore is located at Foresters Hall, Meeting Street, Ramsgate, CT11 9RT.