09 Dec 2025
The St Albans branch of DIY shop Wickes has launched a new initiative to provide local charities and community groups with free materials to support their projects.
The Pick ‘n’ Wickes scheme helps community groups access essential items that complement the tools they borrow from local organisation Share St Albans’ Library of Things.
The service, which encourages people to borrow not buy, is run by not-for-profit CIC The Green House and is part of a growing movement of more than 70 libraries of things around the country.
Not only does it help people to spend less money, it also means people with limited storage space can save it for something else and it is kinder to the planet.
Users can borrow items such as household and garden tools, specialised cooking equipment, items for parties and camping equipment.
As part of the new partnership, the Share St Albans team visited Wickes’ Head Office in Watford to receive a donation of products from Wickes’ latest sample sale, which included things like door locks, shelves, led strip lights, brackets and more. The Wickes Community Programme supports local initiatives by providing essential DIY materials to help communities work smarter, save money, and achieve more.
Wickes community engagement manager Hannah Randle Hockin said: “We’re proud to support the fantastic work Share St Albans is doing to make DIY more accessible to the local community. Through the Pick ‘n’ Wickes initiative, we can help local groups get the tools and materials they need to bring their projects to life, all while encouraging a more resourceful and sustainable approach to home improvement.”
Annual membership of Share St Albans is £10 with hire charges costing between £1 and £4 with a few larger items costing £8.
The items available were chosen based on local surveys carried out as well as information from other libraries of things. They are currently focusing on home and entertainment and DIY and gardening. There are disco lights, a popcorn maker, an ice cream maker, a gazebo, folding tables and chairs, number-shaped cake tins and giant garden games. In the DIY and gardening section there is a sewing machine, a sander, a hand drill, a glue gun, a ladder and a leaf blower.
It is open at The Green House, 46 London Road, from 11am-2 pm on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays and on Thursday evenings from 5pm until 7pm.
For more information about Share St Albans see https://www.sharestalbans.org/
