A community group bringing people together over making, sharing, recycling and repairing now has a new home.

Bridport Community Shed, which started in July 2018, has set up shop by Mountfield after being in three temporary places.

To celebrate the occasion, and the group’s first AGM, Bridport Mayor, Cllr Barry Irvine, officially opened the group’s new workshop by cutting the ribbon on a bird box the group had made.

He said: “Now you’ve got a more permanent place, thanks to Daryl Chambers the town surveyor who came up with this place, which has given you a lot more space. It’s given you somewhere you can keep your tools.

“It’s a two way process because I understand that you as a community shed have made, put together and fixed up a couple of benches that belonged to the town council. We can find somewhere for you and you can do some work for us.

“I am pleased that I was invited to do this, but I am surprised you chose me because I am no good at DIY.

“Maybe when I stop being mayor - because it keeps me very busy - maybe I will pop up here on a Thursday morning, but you will need a lot of patience to show me how to use your tools.

“I really wish you well with this place, it’s not just about making benches and making things, but about being together, meeting and having a cup of tea and talking. Of course, this is a community shed, not a man’s shed, not a women’s shed, it’s for everybody.

“Have a good time here and I’m sure you will get lots of people coming along as word spreads that you’re here and you’re doing good things.”

Bridport Community Shed meets on a Thursday morning at the workshop from 10am to 12.30pm for woodwork and gardening and on Wednesdays in the library from 10am to 12noon for textiles and recycling.

It aims to be a place for all members of the community to spend time together sharing skills and experiences, making and mending.

Ed Brand, chairman of Bridport Community Shed, said: “We have such a good relationship with the town council. we have use of the premises, but we also do jobs for them, such as repairing benches - it’s part of our community work.

“We’re keen to carry out work with community groups. We’re talking with the Allington Hillbillies and where they have bins on the hill and in the woods, were looking to put some wooden covers around them to stop foxes and rubbish spilling everywhere.

“In the library, in the courtyard we hope to put a shed there to store some materials, so we are fundraising for that. People bring bits in on a Wednesday and we need somewhere to store it. There’s an appetite for people to see things reused, which we are trying to do.”

To get involved with the community shed, email edmundbrand01@gmail.com or call 07402 409891.