Bill Gibb chats to Chris Hellawell of the Edinburgh Tool Library
NEITHER a borrower nor a lender be” may be a famous Shakespearean quote, but Chris Hellawell begs to differ.
The charity he founded, the Edinburgh Tool Library, does just that – loans out tools to those who need them.
As it marks its fifth anniversary this year, he’s seen the lives of many of the borrowers change immeasurably.
Being able to lay hands on tools they’d otherwise never be able to afford has given people the ability to create homes fit to live in, and tackle projects they never thought they could.
Chris, who is originally from Northumberland but now lives in the Scottish capital, remembers the first moment he saw the power of tool libraries.
“I visited a tool library when I lived in Canada for a couple of years and thought it was such a simple, great idea,” Chris says.
“I saw a guy come in who was homeless but had the chance to change that, and start a job as a roofer.
“The problem was that he didn’t have the basic tools like a hammer and a
Stanley knife, and had no money to buy them.
“They kitted him out with what he needed. I could see him well up with emotion.
“I appreciated how something so simple could have such an impact on someone’s life.”
There were numerous tool libraries in Canada and Chris came back to the UK feeling sure there would be several here, too. But he discovered none existed.
After much hard work, Chris got the Edinburgh Tool Library up and running in 2015.
It operated out of an old police box, which they rented for a few hours a week, with just a few tools.
“The tools were kept on shelves in my spare room and I’d take them along to loan out to members who joined and requested them,” Chris explains.
“Just drills, saws, hammers, woodworking tools and gardening implements.”
Now there are two fully equipped workshop spaces where people can use expensive equipment like band saws, sanders and wood lathes, as well as a big storage depot with access to 1,600 tools.
Members pay a token amount (from £10 to £30 a year) to be able to access all of the tools and kit they need for big projects.
Among those benefiting enormously are the Syrian refugees in the city.
“A lot of them had good trade skills, they just didn’t have access to the tools they needed,” Chris says.
“We gave them that and they used them to turn the bare houses they were given into family homes.”
The workshop and tool access has also given others a real purpose.
Chris frequently hears the moving stories of those who have been able to make a difference to their lives.
“There was one woman who’d been the victim of domestic abuse and had been given a house to make a fresh start.
“It was in a right state, but we gave her rollers, brushes, ladders and leftover paint and she went away and did it all up.
“She was rightfully proud of herself and she sent the loveliest e-mail with pictures of it.”
Bill Gibb talks shop with Chris Hellawell, founder of the Edinburgh Tool Library.
To find out more, contact Edinburgh Tool Library, 9 Spey Street Lane, Edinburgh EH7 4QB or visit edinburghtoollibrary. org.uk.