Brief history
Sharing Spaces evolved from our Kentish Town pop-up shop in response to the challenge that a pop-up shop on a High Street would not engage people of lower incomes. To do that, we decided we would need to go to housing estates.
The next step was a pop-up on the Ossulston estate for two weeks in September 2021. It became apparent that residents wanted to access the halls regularly. So we opened every Thursday from Jan 2022 and then moved to Goldington in October 2023.
A second was launched at the Templar House estate and a third at Ampthill Estate.
So what is a Sharing Space? A Sharing Space is a temporary or regular community hub, often established in spaces like Camden Libraries, Tenants & Residents Association (TRA) halls, underused community spaces.
The core idea is to create a physical place where neighbours can meet, build connections, and collectively work towards a more resilient future. The concept moves beyond simply sharing things to sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences that help people support one another.
Purpose and Impact
The initiative has a dual purpose focused on social and environmental resilience:
- Tackling the Climate Crisis Locally: Inspiring residents to live in a low-cost, low-impact way by promoting refusal, reuse, and recycling.
- Building Community Resilience: Addressing feelings of isolation and powerlessness by fostering connections, mutual support, and a shared sense of belonging within neighbourhoods.
- Lowering Cost of Living: Providing practical skills and advice that help residents reduce their household bills and lower their cost of living.
Key Features and Activities
Sharing Spaces host a diverse range of activities that are open to everyone and are designed to be inviting, inclusive, and unpretentious ("not perfect and polished").
| Category | Example Activities |
|---|---|
| Skills Sharing | Mending and repair sessions, cooking workshops (low-cost, low-carbon, meat-free), sewing and upcycling skills, craftivism. |
| Resource Sharing | Clothes and toy swaps, sharing food. |
| Environmental Action | Neighbourhood planting and growing schemes (community gardening), energy-saving advice. |
| Community Engagement | Weekly workshops, informal drop-in sessions, wall displays for ideas, and dedicated play corners for children. |
Operation and Participation
How it Operates
- Venue & Layout: Spaces are typically transformed using sustainable and affordable decor (e.g., sari fabric, scrap material bunting). They are designed to be flexible, with furniture that can be easily moved to accommodate different session types.
- Duration: Projects often run for approximately three months with established regular activities at consistent dates and times (e.g., once or twice a week) to encourage habit-forming attendance but the frequency is flexible.
- Model Replication: The successful model, piloted in Somers Town, Camden, is replicated through partnerships (like with the climate action charity Ashden) across London.
Participation & Benefits
- For Residents: Sharing Spaces are open to everyone in the local community. Residents are actively engaged through methods like local door-knocking to determine what activities they want and to invite them to share their own skills (e.g., cooking or knitting) at a future workshop.
- For Community Groups: Groups running a Sharing Space may receive support in the form of a grant, guidance from a Think & Do, and a comprehensive toolkit that provides a step-by-step guide for setup, engagement, working with local councils, and budgeting.
- Key Goal: The ultimate objective is for the community engagement to spark interest and passions that result in resident-led projects that are sustained and taken ownership of by the local residents.