Sitting in a huge warehouse in St Werburgh's lives a creative haven that even the most active of environmental activists could only have wished they had dreamt up themselves. Celebrating 40 years in existence, the Children's Scrapstore is a registered charity which seeks to encourage creative play and educational activities through the reuse of unwanted materials - and their mission is to 'make waste things play things'.
The charity was set up by Avon Friends of the Earth in 1982 at their base in Brislington with the aim of diverting waste materials from landfill and reusing them, all with the added benefit of supporting community groups. The warehouse began its life in Bedminster and moved three times in its first twenty years, but those in charge of the Scrapstore now say that each move has been used as an opportunity to grow and, by increasing membership and developing its services, it's now in its own forever home in St Werburghs.
There are actually around 60 Scrapstores and similar projects around the UK. All are independent organisations with different resources and different access requirements but they all work on the same reuse principles.
