BDB's BIG BORROWING BONANZA

Borrow Don't Buy (BDB) is Plymouth's Library of Things!

"YOU SHOULD HAVE ACCESS TO THE STUFF YOU NEED WITHOUT IT COSTING THE EARTH."

You might have heard of BDB in the recent years seen one of our goofy selfies with our awesome borrowers, as since opening in 2017, we have gone from strength to strength thanks to YOUR support and our team of elves seem to be multiplying (see below for their smiley faces)...

Borrowing has so many mutual benefits that it's a no-brainer that we reach as many people as possible. It saves people money AND space in their homes, PROVIDES ACCESS to things they might not otherwise have, and PROMOTES SHARING ECONOMY within communities. 

Our Getting Everyone Online (GEO) project is helping with DIGITAL INCLUSION in the City and with your support we have and will continue to get people matched with the devices they need!

In addition to these individual benefits, and perhaps most importantly, BDB helps us all REDUCE our collective ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT by reducing the need for new resources, through circular economy - using items already in circulation, and intercepting items that otherwise go to waste, by giving them a new lease of life!

So, why are we Crowdfunding?

In order to keep our prices affordable, whilst still increasing items available to our rapidly growing community of Borrowers, we rely on grants and external funding. By Crowdfunding, we are able to access valuable match-funding from Plymouth City Council and other funders, and your support shows them how much you love your Library of Things! This can essentially double your pledges and helps us offer you exclusive deals you just can't refuse!

You might remember our BIG BOOST Crowdfunder last year where we banged on for a good few weeks at you all and you awesome lot managed to help us raise vital funds and give us the boost we needed after some pretty hairy years...

Off the back of the campaign not only were we able to open more days, get more items in the Library, and work on our future goals, but a WHOLE SHED-LOAD of new people became Borrowers (a total of 673 to be precise)!

We now currently have over 1750 Members, have completed over 3600 loans, and have almost 700 items in the Inventory!

To keep up with growing demand and develop our digital inclusion project we need your help to acquire more items and get more devices refurbished. 

What we will do with the money...?

More THINGS and ACCESS, more COMMUNITY and GROWTH!

More THINGS!

With more funds comes more of the items you want, and allows us to source extras of those super popular items so that as our borrowers increase so does our capacity to serve them! Make sure you suggest an item when pledging in the comments!

We will use funds to ensure we have 'basic' versions of some of our more expensive items, which means there are more affordable options to cover everyone's different budgets, and you can still get the job done!

More ACCESS!

Your pledges will allow us to increase our opening hours by helping us get extra staff and volunteers to run the Library! This means more flexibility for you and encourages even more people to get borrowing!

We also are working on plans to develop our services with smoother ways to borrow, easier ways to get in touch with us and more benefits for people who engage with us!

More COMMUNITY!

BDB is a catalyst that takes inaccessible and unused things in, and makes useful and accessible things come out. We want to engage more local communities to use our services, give us the things they no longer use, and provide a tangible way for everyone to impact and be impacted. The more we raise, the more devices we can refurbish and out into the hands of those who need them. 

We are developing our partnerships with local organisations and facilitate connections between businesses in the area and the communities they serve by piloting satellite schemes to expand both borrowing and digital inclusion schemes!

More GROWTH!

Now we have built a team, have well and truly proven borrowing is a bit hit in Plymouth and have started working with more organisations, we are working on our 5-year plan to move towards being self sufficient. 

We have some really exciting plans in the pipeline, which will all be revealed in time, but a space of our own is on the list, along with expansion into the rest of Plymouth. We are working really hard behind the scenes to develop ourselves into something everyone can benefit from, and the funding we raise all goes towards helping us achieve the dream of being a household name!

If you are a business who wants to get involved in making Plymouth even better, and want to work with us, get in touch!

What will I get for supporting BDB?

For EVERY pledge no matter how big or small:

• We want to hear what YOU would like to see in the Library so make sure to let us know in the comments!
• Your name will go on our dedicated BDB Supporter page !

Maybe commitment isn't your thing, so grab a gift voucher or a cheeky discount instead of a membership, every pledge helps!

More TREES!

• For every £10 pledged on a reward we will plant 2 trees in BDB's Ecologi Forest and increase our impact so far. By pledging to the BIG BORROWING BONANZA, we will set aside part of that pledge to plant even more trees and avoid even more carbon. Check out BDB's Ecologi Forest and see what your support has helped us impact so far!

New Memberships Breakdown

We have also been working on some brand spanking new membership options to suit our different types of borrowers! These will be available from 1st September, and we will be introducing an annual sign-up fee of £3 but get them here and you will save yourself even more with Crowdfunding exclusive deals!

BAM Bamboo Socks!

A big old thank you to BAM bamboo clothing company who have kindly donated these awesome super soft socks to the campaign so you can get your hands on them and have toastie feet all day long!

      Dot Socks x1              Star Socks x1 

   (Women's Size 4-7)      (Women's Size 4-7)

    Stripe Socks x1          Heart Socks x1 

  (Women's Size 4-7)      (Women's Size 4-7)

Multicoloured Socks x4          Trainer Socks x4               Stripy Socks x4  

   (Women's Size 8-11)               (Women's Size 4-7)             (Women's Size 4-7) 

Pollenize Seed Packets!

Another thank you to our awesome friends over at Pollenize, who have donated 20 seed packets that you can grab here and help us reach our target by doing so! The next best time to sow them is autumn, so get yourself a packet and lets get some seeds in the ground ready for next year!

Photo Credit: Chris Parks Photography

Name an Item*!

Our little friends below all need names! Grab yourself the 'Name An Item' reward and once the campaign is successful you will be allocated in a random draw one of these to choose a name* for! So get your creative heads on!

Tote bag design choices:

If you have chosen the BDB Tote Bag reward see below the 3 designs to choose from! These are a mock up of how we expect them to look once printed. We plan to order them after the campaign so we only produce what we need, so bags might look a tiny bit different due to printing requirements!

Sponsor and Adopt an Item*!

Choose from the items below:

Mock-up of how is will look on our site!

*Terms and Conditions for Naming Items

• Item names cannot be anything deemed derogatory or offensive by BDB and we reserve the right to refuse anything that does not fit within our ethos or could be offensive to others. 
• Names must be no more than 35 characters (excluding spaces).
• BDB reserves the right to remove, change or keep the item name after sponsorship ends.
• BDB reserves the right to remove/change items name and item adopted if no longer needed/of use the BDB - item will be replaced/alternative offered if applicable etc. for remainder of sponsorship.

Hold on, I've got some more questions...

• I'm still not sure how a Library of Things Work?

Check out our FAQ section on our website HERE

• How can I see what you already have in the inventory?

Check out our inventory HERE

• What happens if we raise more money? (That’d be AWESOME!)

We will then have more funds to achieve the goals such as more items, a space of our very own and more exciting plans! This is a collective effort and, the more members we have, the more things we can do together. 

How else can I get involved?

If you've already bought a reward (thanks!) or can't pledge right now, there are other ways for you to show your support.

TELL THE WORLD! - If you love Borrow Don't Buy then please - tell your friends and family and anyone else you know. The more people that know about us the more donations we can get! @borrowdontbuy #borrowdontbuy #BDB 

SHARING IS CARING - Crowdfunder suggests that every share on social media will raise around £20. So please share Borrow Don't Buy on your social media networks and help us reach our goal. A personal message will often lead to a donation! 

Do you want to help out differently, perhaps you are a business wanting to collaborate in some way? Drop us a message via email or social media:

[email protected] | @borrowdontbuy | https://borrowdontbuy.co.uk/

And follow us on to keep up to date with our progress!