Smart Solutions
Parents’ Warehouse
A combination of a meeting place (café) and venue for workshops with a shop where children’s second-hand items are displayed and sold.
Implemented in : Meensel-Kiezegem
Country : Belgium – Flanders
How do you rate this example?
- What’s the solution?
- What makes it smart?
- How is the solution implemented?
- In what local context has it been applied?
- Who was behind the implementation?
- What was the local journey?
- What have been the main outputs & results?
- What does it bring the village/community?
- What’s needed
- What to do…
- and not to do.
Where and when
Implemented in : Meensel-Kiezegem
Country : Belgium – Flanders
Population : 1200
Date : 2018 – Ongoing
Find out more
Contact person : Veerle Van Welden
E-mail : vvanwelden@samenferm.be
Link(s) :
Last updated : 13/06/22
What’s the solution?
The solution is a new community space that meets multiple local needs particularly for the most vulnerable members of the local rural community including those experiencing poverty. It provides a physical space and café for people to meet, staffed by volunteers to welcome and support visitors. Tea, coffee and biscuits are provided for free to visitors. The space is also used to collect and sell second-hand items for families, including clothes and furniture for kids, toys, and school items. Finally, the space is made available to local people for additional community activities, including meetings, workshops and small events.
What makes it smart?
The solution is a smart example of social innovation because it takes advantage of an existing local resource (empty school) to provide much-needed services (meeting place, second-hand shop) in a way that meets several local social needs and is delivered through the energy and commitment of local volunteers.
The solution provides a local meeting place where care meets sustainability:
- It fulfils a need.
- It raises awareness about sustainability.
- It is a good example of circular economy and reduces waste.
- It doesn’t focus on poverty but it is related and supports social integration.
- It brings back life to a ‘deserted’ place and enables social events
- It combines positive elements which connect people in an intergenerational way
It is also a good illustration how local derelict buildings can be used to host activities with a sustainable character.
How is the solution implemented?
- Raise a group of volunteers who are willing to perform the task.
- Make a business plan with a clear goal and proper needs.
- Talk to the local government and local social services.
- Make a deal with these; seek benefits for all parties.
- Seek out supporters and benefactors.
- Communicate about your plan to your extended network.
- Form a steering group responsible to carry out daily tasks, organise rules, opening times etc.
- Arrange/find a suitable space. Size must be fit for all activities wanted. If the space isn’t reserved whole week for the MamaDepot, a storage room is needed to put all the items when they are not on display.
- Call for and organise a committed group of local volunteers
In what local context has it been applied?
The village of Meensel-Kiezegem is situated in the northern part of the Hageland rural region in the Flemish region of Belgium. The area is mainly agricultural with a domination of horticulture (apples, pears…). The region is characterised by a low level of socio-economic activity, experiencing a rapidly ageing population and many elderly people having only small pensions. The share of higher educated people is relatively low. Social services get more and more requests for support, however a new development is that these requests are coming increasingly from young families and not only older residents.
Furthermore, Meensel, like other villages in the region, suffers from the centralisation tendency where all facilities end up in the larger settlements and towns. It has been losing several of its facilities over time. The village lacked a sheltered meeting place destined for everyone. It was also missing a shop or market where people with a low income could find the goods they need for their families.
Who was behind the implementation?
- Ferm – an NGO network for rural women.
- In particular, a motivated individual from this network who sought to take a ‘one-off’ initiative into a permanent establishment.
What was the local journey?
- Everything starts with an idea from someone. Kristien, member of the local branch of the women’s NGO network Ferm, spoke to her other members and got followers (support). They informed their national organisation which sent a professional to help them during a few sessions to enrich the idea for a service called ‘MamaDepot’ (second-hand shop, meeting place, workshops, helping poor) and to make it feasible (business model-thinking).
- They informed their extended network about their goal.
- Someone heard the parish in Meensel possessed a vacant school building and if the goal was ‘a good cause’ the parish was willing to make the building available for the MamaDepot initiative for a few years.
- A steering group (4 – 6 members) was formed and they went to several municipalities and social services in the region to explain their plan and to get support.
- They were able to obtain initial start-up funding from Cera, a regional cooperative fund aimed at projects targeting wellbeing. To equip the hall, they were able to acquire tables, chairs and store shelves from a cleared shop.
- They informed again their extended network to form a larger group with volunteers because of the need of more ‘hands’ and practical skills.
- Basic promotional materials were produced, but local ‘word of mouth’ communication about the goal was the key driver behind the progress. The group received a lot of sympathy and also material to start with (clothes, toys, furniture, store shelves, shoes) from the local community. The steering group does the daily work (financial, ordering, sorting of items, winter/summer change, communication on Facebook etc.).
- An agreement was made that clients from the social service would get a members card valid for 1 year in order to obtain a discount tariff in the shop.
- The larger group of volunteers, about 30, helps during opening hours of the MamaDepot. Talks and coffee/tea drinking accompanies the visit.
- A second building is now in use as storage which makes the room for the social activities even more agreeable.
What have been the main outputs & results?
- Between 20 and 30 customers visit the shop and café each time it is open. Opening hours are each month: 18:00 – 20:00 (first Tuesday), 14:00 – 16:00 (third Wednesday) and 13:30 – 17:00 (fourth Saturday)
- The social services are very enthusiastic about the initiative. Their clients are happy to find the items provided in their area.
What does it bring the village/community?
- This initiative brings back social life in a village where all meeting opportunities (school, church, meeting hall) had gone.
- It also provides much-needed support to some of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the local community.
- It also raises awareness of issues around social deprivation, social isolation, the circular economy and waste reduction, which can hope to enhance the commitment of local people to addressing these long-term issues.
- In all these ways, the solution plays a role in making the village a more attractive and socially sustainable place to live, including for young families.
What’s needed
Financial resources
Financial needs:
Main/set-up costs
Initial costs to prepare, equip, populate and promote the MamaDepot: tables and chairs, store shelves, cleaning, purchase of food and drinks, promotion etc. - €2500
Coaching and judicial matters – €250 for a half-day session.
Ongoing costs:
Renting space: Estimated around €750 monthly. In Meensel it is for free (condition: social activity)
Energy: 100/month
Water: 30/year
Coffee/tea/drinks/cookies: 400/year (it’s free for the customers)
Insurance: 250/year
Owner has still his obligations: safety regulation, fire insurance …
Funding received:
| Source | Amount | Funded |
|---|---|---|
| Cera, regional cooperative fund for “wellbeing” | 2,500 € | First arrangements, cleaning, tables and chairs, shelves, goods to populate the shop, food & drinks, basic promotional material. |
| Fern | 250 € | Coaching and legal advice |
| Parish | 1,000 € | Room rental and insurance (monthly) |
Human resources
A steering group: 4 - 6
A pool of volunteers: 30
Coach: 1
Physical resources
• A hall with room for displaying the items and room for the café
• Tables and chairs
• Shelves for presenting goods
• Storage space when the main space is being used for other purposes than selling the goods
What to do…
- Communicate with all stakeholders (neighbours, village, municipality, organisation, …)
- Make sure people with low income know you exist.
- Be hospitable, friendly.
- Organise the group of volunteers properly: transparent, direct, with dignity. Group-dynamic skills are needed.
and not to do
- Addressing only to people with low income. Invite everybody.
- Being too formal.
