A whole year of borrowing!

As we come to the end of 2024, we have lots to celebrate. From Cardiff to Bethesda, Wales has always been a sharing society, so a sharing economy was always a natural step forward. And this year marked some big leaps forward for both us as an organisation and for all of Wales.  

In June, Wales was named the second best country in the world for recycling. In October, Cardiff hosted the 2024 European Circular Economy Hotspot.  

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Wales is actively moving towards its ambition to become a net zero country by 2050. Keeping resources in use, avoiding waste and becoming a more circular economy are big parts of the plan – and that’s where Benthyg Cymru comes in.  

This year saw big borrowing numbers*:  

+6,736 borrows from 24 different Libraries of Things across Wales  

+2,760 new borrowers, bringing the total across the network to almost 10,000!  

~Carpet cleaners, sports equipment, and pressure washers were the most popular items~  

New Libraries of Things popped up all over Wales:

+Sero Carmarthen opened in February  

+Llanfyllin LoT opened in March

+Abershare Shed and Machine Ring Carmarthen opened in May  

+Maindee LoT opened in July

+Petha Pawb Llanymddyfri opened in August  

+Conwy Events Library and Llyfrgell Pethau Bangor (MSparc ar y Lon) opened in November

+Pethau Pawb Castell Newydd Emlyn and Benthyg Caldicot opened in December  

Many of our members celebrated big milestones this year:

+Lend, Mend and Tend: Sandfields Library, Planed Ponty Planet, and RE:MAKE Valleys celebrated their 1st birthdays

+Benthyg Abergavenny, Splott Benthyg Y Sblot, Llani LoT, Benthyg Monmouth, and Bethesda LoT celebrated their 2nd birthdays

+RE:MAKE Newport, Benthyg Penarth, ACE Benthyg, Barry Benthyg, and Benthyg Llandrindod Wells celebrated their 3rd birthdays

Since we first launched in 2021, almost 9,890 borrowers have borrowed 17,224 items, saving £441,182 and 21,5190 kg in carbon emissions.

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The number of Libraries of Things in Wales almost doubled this year and we are proud to support all of them in their journeys. We also look forward to another year (and many more) with more growth, more borrows, and more borrowers like you.  Happy New Year!

(*from Oct 1, 2023-Sep 30, 2024, 1 borrow = 1 item borrowed for a period of 1 week)

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