We are 30!
On 5th December we had a winter party with friends old and new to celebrate 30 years since the beginning of Work and Play Scrapstore. Lots of people came to help us mark the occasion and to enjoy the delicious birthday cake, community weaving, party hat game, lucky dip and raffle. Thank you to everyone who came and to everyone who joined in with the fun! It was also a moment of goodbyes to our Chair of Trustees, Lucy Hadfield who has stepped down after a long and eventful period of time in the role. We are so grateful to Lucy for all of her support over the past few years.
Scrappy's past is full of adventures and events...In 1986, two youth workers, Mike Neary and Maryse Dupin found that they could not afford sufficient materials for their art workshops...support was sought from Wandsworth Council and as a solution, Wandsworth Work and Play (Scrapstore) was formed. In 1987, our first Scrapstore opened in Tooting at the Old Convent. site behind Tooting Broadway Station. This space was soon required for redevelopment and WaP was temporarily rehoused in portacabins at Chesterton School in Battersea. Whilst here, ambitious plans were made for the future, the volunteer base was strengthened and increasing numbers of materials donors were recruited. In 1992, a more permanent home was found - at the Professional Development Centre in Franciscan Road, Tooting. This new base allowed WaP to expand and grow, recruiting a permanent paid Development Worker, delivering a myriad of reuse workshops, expanding the membership, supplier and volunteer contributions and participating in the Wandsworth Arts Festival. It was not all plain sailing and WaP faced various funding issues over the years...however, the team of strong Trustees and loyal volunteers always saved the day!
In 2012, the Scrapstore fell upon harder times, with the closure of its premises and more severe funding issues. Our Trustees and long-term volunteers embarked upon a mission to save Scrappy and after a long battle, in 2013, opened our new Scrapstore on Blackshaw Road. This new store was set up and run entirely by volunteers for 18 months, which gave us the springboard we needed to get back on our feet and to again grow our membership, supplier and volunteer base and to expand our outreach work in the community.
Throughout our 30 years, we have remained true to our values of artful reuse for environmental and community benefit. We now have more members than ever before and 'save' more materials from landfill and incineration. We are also again expanding our community involvement with with workshops, events and corporate volunteering.
Here's to another 30 years Scrappy!.
