Sharing Shed Melbourne Inc. (SSM) was incorporated in April 2018 to promote a more engaged, active, and resourceful community by empowering community users and partner organisations with low-cost access to a wide range of useful goods, skills and related knowledge. Our vision is to see a world without waste. Our mission is to design and create a scalable, replicable and sustainable SSM model where we value and share what we have, know and do – where we SHARE * LEARN * REPAIR.

To this end, we’re teaming up with the Melbourne Repair Café (Inner West) to establish a “library of things” where members will be able to access goods that we use infrequently (eg tents, tools, movie projectors, telescopes, sewing machines) without having to buy, store and maintain them. These 'things' enable us to engage in activities from recreation and sport, arts and craft, music and science, home mainteance, gardeining, cooking and preserving, and trying out things we wouldn't ordinarily do because of the cost of "kitting up".

We’ll continue to host free monthly repair sessions (as the repair café has done since 2016) to help people learn how to extend the life of the stuff they own and cherish or find useful. Our fixers can also help keep our stock in good working order.

To activate our inventory of goods and encourage active engagement, we want to invite local "everyday experts" to share their knowledge with others in our community. We firmly believed that sharing stuff is better when there are opportunities to meet and learn from our neighbours. We want to provide an opportunity for people to recognise and share the often-neglected but incredibly useful skills they have (from setting up a tent, to hanging a picture or using a hotplate to make Ethiopian  injera bread).

Sharing Shed Melbourne will proudly sit among other tool and lending libraries that have been set up around Australia and overseas. We will be unique in designing a model that encompasses sharing, learning and repairing from the very start. Our wild ambition is to see this initiative replicated and tailored throughout the country by people wanting to set up a shed in their community to suit their particular context, needs and aspirations. 

Your donation will help us set up the Sharing Shed covering establishment and operational costs - the sorts of things only money can buy (like website hosting, inventory management system, insurance). For the rest, we're inviting the community to get involved by donating their quality 2nd hand goods, time and services so that together, we can bring this initiative to life!

We thank you in advance for your support and joining us on this adventure!