The Borrow Shop: an affordable and sustainable equipment lending scheme for cultural organisations across South Yorkshire

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Our project is a 6 month pilot of a new affordable and sustainable lending scheme for the South Yorkshire cultural industries, called The Borrow Shop. The scheme will provide low cost hires of equipment and materials, as well as storage and a potential income stream for organisations who choose to also lend their own items via the scheme. It will be open to all, as long as items borrowed will be used for creative and/or community benefit. The Borrow Shop will be part of the upcoming transformation of an empty shop front in Sheffield into a vibrant cultural hub. This funding will allow us to set up and pilot the project, including implementing necessary physical and digital infrastructure to accommodate reservations, support, repairs, and deliveries/collections.The scheme solves 4 problems:* Cost barriers of traditional hire/purchase: affordability means we can provide access for many more people, and more diverse groups, to create* Storage: saving organisations money and encouraging sharing of resources* Income generation: introducing new options for ourselves and others* Waste and Sustainability: cultural projects are often time-limited, and items are discarded after use - we'll combat this by giving items new life, repairing and sharing them for cultural/community benefit.