Children’s Scrapstore and Artrageous

Children’s Scrapstore is a great idea and deserves to be as successful as it is. Not only does it provide really creative activities for children, it’s also a fantastic way to educate them about caring for the environment.
Children’s Scrapstore collects around 100 tonnes of business waste materials every year in Bristol. Being situated in an industrial area of the city, which regularly produces suitable waste, is one of the main reasons for its success.
It has over 1300 member groups that use the materials collected. Organisers of the membership groups visit the scrap warehouse to select the materials they need, and then take them to their groups. The membership base includes: adventure playgrounds, after school clubs, Brownies/​Guides, children’s centres, community centres, creches, playgroups, and playschemes, etc.
Artrageous is the arm of the Childrens Scrapstore that is open to the public. It has recently started offering Art and Craft sessions every other Saturday, between 11.00am and 1.00pm, providing adults and children with a chance to experiment with the products that they sell. Each session has a different theme with lots of different craft ideas.

If you are a parent, art student, design student, work with children or are a creative person in general then I command you to make a visit to one of St Werburghs best assets. The Scrapstore was always on the top of my list to go during university, as there are so many things here to transform into quirky gifts, fancy dress costumes and arty farty sculptures.
I think you have to be a member or have proof that you work with children or are a student to gain access to this treasure trove but when I used to come here the rules weren’t quite as strict. What’s available changes on a daily basis but it the past I’ve picked up old annuals, a Harry Potter book, yards of fabric, roller-​skate wheels, old telephone keypads, and a bag full of netted ribbon. And that was just with a basket, can you imagine the possibilities if you were to fill up a whole trolley?!
If you want to rummage but don’t fancy taking a load of junk home with you then bring a friend and split the cost, and contents of your basket or trolley. This saves a few pennies and stops you coming home with a bag of ball pool balls with no pool to put them in…

A perfect partner for the yummy mummy’s favourite organic foodstore on Sevier Street, the Children’s Scrapstore upstairs is the place to go for a huge supply of art materials for creative parents and children. Paints, paper, crayons, sticky tape; everything can be found up here in this vast warehouse-​style shop, along with all sorts of colouring-​in books and other children’s activity books and sets.
To clarify, it’s a combination of two endeavours. Firstly the Children’s Scrapstore is a charity which collects waste from businesses, and that waste is then sold to members who pay in suggested donations (£13.25 for a trolley of stuff). Artrageous is the crafts shop which is open to everyone, and profits from this are directed back into the Scrapstore charity. It’s a unique recycled business, through and through.
So, you can use this place either as just a brilliant arts and crafts shop, but it’s also there for members who might be teachers or school managers who want to access scrap to use in their art classes at very low cost.
It has an on-​site car park so you can come and fill up your car with all sorts of hilarious scraps and art supplies.

There’s a little corner in St Werburghs where there’s a higher than normal level of wholesome nutritious energy buzzing out the foundations. Downstairs is the Organic Supermarket bashing out more than enough delicious and healthy meals and food stuffs (check out previous Unilocalers’ reviews). Upstairs is this place, an outrageously extravagant art store.
The by-​line is ‘art and crafts for all’ and this is a claim easily reached. Once inside expect to find all the materials that you would actually use if you were an artist or craftsman. That is to say, don’t expect the cellophane wrapped tools and items from a high street store — but rather the raw materials in the basic form. Big tubs of PVA glue, blank masks for painting, wire framed sculpture sets and big packets of clay and modelling putty are a few examples. Face paints, colourful chalk and internal mechanisms for various models are on hand for the serious artist.
For those a little less keen there’s a good kids section for musical instruments, bouncing balls and finger puppets. With a big car park and an adjoining scrap store this is a perfect one stop for all your creative and artistic needs.

The place to go for the raw materials for things like set design and costume. These guys pick up scrap from businesses and turn it into cheap supplies for youth groups, theatre companies, and such like. It’s a members shop, although the general public prices are already very low so that’s not too much of a problem.
They’ve got a pretty eclectic range of stuff. Dyes, foam shapes, magnets, and pom poms all have their own sections (if you don’t know what a pom pom is then a visit here will certainly be informative). They take donations, and given all the efforts they make at helping low income groups this is certainly a worthy place to send your scrap.

You might have seen the warehouse next to the organic supermarket in St Werburgh’s and wondered what it was.
Behind the doors is a fiesta of paper and fur fabric and bright bits of card. A scrap warehouse charity where people donate all sorts of bits and bobs of craft resources for local schools and youth groups to utilise. You need to sign up for a membership card to shop at Artrageous, but if you have an NUS card you can sign up. Pick up some bargains — perfect for theatre groups, art projects or even a fancy dress party!
Despite not being a student, I recently helped out at a local festival, so was allowed to buy some resourses from the warehouse. It is a gigantic treasure trove of foam, plastic pots, tubes and tubs, netting, fabric, books, CDs and a whole load of oddities. I even discovered a job lot of fake Christmas trees and fake fur jackets somewhere in the depths of the place! The suggested donation for a trolley of scrap is only £13.25 — that can get you a whole lot of fun.
The best thing about this colourful wonderland is that all profits from Artrageous go back to the children’s charity.