There we were, all furrowed brows, walking back from a council meeting, and she said, ‘don’t you ever write about nice things? Like, the Library of Things now has a badge-maker.’
She showed me her bag, now well decorated with home-made badges. I had forgotten Hastings had a Library of Things, and anyway was bemused for a few minutes thinking the badge-maker was a person rather than a thing.
This is a badge-maker.
I went to the Library’s page on Umbrella Sussex and sure enough, there’s a badge-maker. How wonderful, considering the huge number of activists we have in Hastings, and how busy they are. They also have an attendance counter, a cash box and other things very useful for events and campaigning.
I wonder – the amount of times in the last few years I’ve thought I wish I could afford a new sewing machine… and yes, they have a sewing machine!
… and where they’re listing big, heavy things, they also remind the borrower that they may want to borrow a barrow, too…
They have tents, they have a whole range of tools — this is amazing! You join up and pay an annual membership fee (from £3 for a single person with no spare income but there are family and supporter prices you can choose from as well.) You hand in a slip with your contact details on, or sign up online, and start borrowing.
It’s open Fridays, 12-4 and Saturdays 10-1. It’s been there for ages but I just kept forgetting to investigate. I am going to investigate tomorrow. There, that’s a nice, simple, happy thing! What else is good, that I forgot about….?
Saturday
And there’s more! Himself and I popped into the Town Hall on Saturday to take a look and heard all about the Make and Mend project. You know that sewing machine? If you want to borrow it, but you’re less than sure you can remember how it’s done, you can come along to a demo session to find out. If it’s just a quick bit of mending you need, you may well be able to do it while you’re there but if it’s a longer project, you can borrow having had a reminder-session on threading, setting up and using the machine.
And then there are fixing Fridays. The attention’s on mobile phones at the moment – either to repair for owners or to pass on to someone who needs one, but there are other ideas brewing. If you haven’t discovered it yet, go take a look at Hastings Library of Things next time you’re in town on a Friday or Saturday…
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Dear Reader,
Times are hard, and so the articles on this site are freely available but if you are able to support my work by making a donation, I am very grateful.
Cheers,
Kay
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Kay Green 