Exeter Scrapstore gets thumbs up
Lucky Lyndsay Peal from Exeter was the prize draw winner from nearly 500 people who completed the Scrapstore’s survey to help plan the future of the charity.
Lyndsay received a giftbox full goodies, donated by the Exeter Lush store, from Trust Chairman Alan Caig.
The Scrapstore launched the survey in November 2014 as it is facing the prospect of having to carry out a major refurbishment or rebuild of its 75 year old Exeter headquarters.
Alan Caig, Chair of the Scrapstore Trust says: “We are really amazed at the response we had from people. Our building is near the end of its life and as part of planning for the future we wanted to review our services and see what people might like us to provide.”
Over 240 Scrapstore members gave their views and gave high approval ratings:-
★ 95% range of scrap materials
★ 92% location of scrapstore
★ 84% help from the staff
★ 82% range of materials to buy
★ 81% the opening hours
The building stands out as the biggest issue for members with people wanting more space to improve access, have more activities and facilities on site and have a better visitor experience. Many people said the cold in Winter limited the time they spent visiting.
Alan added: “The key reason people gave for being members was the desire to recycle and reuse materials but the responses also highlighted the members love for the range of quirky and inspirational materials they could find at the Scrapstore.”
Over 250 non-members also gave their views about the Scrapstore with 90% of them being interested in the scrap materials available. They also thought that the membership looked good value for money.
For the future members wanted to see the building improved with more space and were keen to take part in workshop activities and learn new skills. Many of the non-members were spread across Devon and were keen to see the Scrapstore spread its wings and provide more services in rural communities.
It was estimated that over 70,000 people are currently benefiting from the services the Scrapstore provides with many of these being children and vulnerable adults.
