Oxford Wood Library of Things: Supporting the planet and the community

• Raised £10,050 from 47 supporters
• +£3,000 Extra funding from Sovereign Thriving Communities Fund
• To empower their community to undertake DIY projects by borrowing the tools they need.

Oxford Wood Recycling collects wood waste which is either sold on for DIY purposes or made into furniture. Their mission is to care for their environment and transform lives.

When talking to customers, they regularly offer advice on their project, and the wood and tools to use. It became apparent that many customers did not have the required tools and would look to borrow from family and friends rather than buy new. They realised that hiring out tools for a short period was a service they could offer that would provide benefit.

Having spoken to their customers and community about opening up a Library of Things their idea was met with huge enthusiasm.

Their vision was to offer a service to the local community that provides them with a cost effective benefit of borrowing tools rather than buying new. This will reduce the need for new items to be purchased which in turn will reduce the amount of waste.

In order to set up a Library of Things, Oxford Wood Recycling needed to raise money to purchase the equipment and a wide range of tools that can then be loaned out. They wanted to make sure they had a good range of tools before launching so their customers could get the highest satisfaction straight away. They also needed funds to source the required technology to offer a professional and easy to use system for booking and promoting the tools they have available.

To achieve this, they set up the Oxford Wood Library of Things Crowdfunder!

To find out more about their project, we spoke to Mike from Oxford Wood Recycling; “Using crowdfunding allowed our community to engage with our project and play a vital role in helping us get it off the ground. One of the main aims of the Library of Tools – the project we crowdfunded for – is to empower our local community to undertake DIY projects without the need to purchase new equipment, particularly relevant during the cost of living crisis.”

The crowd rallied around their project, with one supporter commenting; “Love what you’re already doing. Helping people to try things out or not buy their own is such a good extension of your work. ”

Another commented; “Having done building construction in my past, I’m right with you. Keep up the good work.”

In the end, the Oxford Wood Library of Things reached their initial target and went on to raise £10,050 from 47 members of the community. This included £3,000 from the Sovereign Thriving Communities fund.

We asked Mike what impact the +Extra funding has had on their campaign. He told us; “The +Extra funding allowed us to dedicate more resource to setting the project up and to purchase more tools for the Library. The funding secured through crowdfunding meant that we were able to launch our Library of Tools earlier than planned and with more and better tools.”

“We have been delighted with the number of people who have signed up to become members and the number of hires is slowly growing. Those that have used the service have all been very positive. To quote users of the service It has allowed them to undertake DIY projects which they couldn’t otherwise have done!”

Mike also said; “We chose to crowdfund as we hoped it was a good way to engage our community and to raise extra funds. We didn’t know what to expect but were blown away by the generosity of our community. It also allowed us to fully articulate the Library of Tools and its purpose and focused our minds on the task in hand.”  

After such a successful experience of crowdfunding, and receiving the +Extra funding from Sovereign Housing, we asked Mike for his top crowdfunding tips:

“Do it! Make sure you provide regular updates and keep promoting your Crowdfunder. ”

Feeling inspired? Find out if you could get up to £10,000 from the Sovereign Thriving Communities Fund!