Brother and sister run 'scrap store' in Kendal

“It's about changing mindsets, and inspiring young people," said 37-year-old Josh Simpson, who runs it with 34-year-old sister Emily Dewhurst.

“They might turn a bottle into a racing car or rocket now, but in ten or fifteen years’ time, they might be turning unwanted plastic into medical supplies or construction materials.

“We’re planting those seeds to get people thinking about what's possible with how we reuse things.”

Josh and Emily (Image: Rag Tag)

Since 2016, the sibling artists have run Ragtag, a not-for-profit arts organisation based on Mealbank industrial estate just outside Kendal.

At its heart, is the Scrapstore, a place filled with weird and wonderful materials that are just waiting to be turned into carnival costumes, amazing artworks or other creative endeavours.

“It’s mind boggling what’s sent to landfill,” Emily said. “Often people don't think what they've got is valuable, but what the Scrapstore offers is affordable and varied materials with different textures and surfaces.

“Plus, really bizarre things that you wouldn't normally be able to buy that you never even knew you needed.”

The Scrapstore connects with businesses to identify materials destined for landfill, and diverts them, enabling recycling and reuse.

Schools, community groups and artists can sign up for free membership at the store and pop in and fill a basket for just £7 or trolley for £30, and the duo believe reusing waste materials in this way expands the options for creativity.

“It opens up possibilities for creative processes because to get the off the shelf materials needed wouldn’t be affordable.

“You become driven by the materials that you see in the store, so if you find 30 cool old frames, you can devise a whole project around them,” Josh adds.

As well as giving the area access to scrap, Ragtag also runs its own creative projects in schools, communities, and festivals across Cumbria and beyond, as well as hosting activities for children and adults at its base, plus, providing studio space for fifteen artists.

In 2018 they expanded their offer, and now, the organisation is growing again with three new projects and an extra building on site.

“It was kind of go big or go home. So we went big,” Emily laughed.

The ScrapStore (Image: Rag Tag)

Funded by Arts Council England, the first is the Ragtag Roadshow, aimed at taking the Scrapstore on the road to reach rural communities and spread their message of reuse, creativity and play.

“It’s a shop, a studio and a stage,” said Josh. “We’re building a caravan with characters that live inside who’ll take people on a journey.

“It’ll be all about finding new ways of using materials for engineering or creating to inspire children and young people, plus the characters will be silly, entertaining and engaging – think The Borrowers meets Rosie & Jim meets Morph.

“Imagine a pop-up festival visiting schools, community centres and marketplaces, where we inject a whole load of fun and creativity into those spaces.”

Over the summer, Ragtag have already been testing out the Ragtag Roadshow characters at festivals and the response has been fantastic.

Josh serving a customer (Image: Rag Tag)

“It’s been a total hit with audiences – we took Rag and Tag to Solfest over the August bank holiday doing walkabout performances and had so much fun,” Josh added.

Back at their base, and thanks to funding from National Lottery’s Awards for All, their new building is set to be transformed into a space for young people too.

“We’re going to turn that space into a place that you go into and you’re like ‘oh yeah, I want to create and make things,’” Josh said.

“It’s a pilot project, so we’re going to try out a variety of different ways of doing that like activities during school holidays, after school clubs and more long-term projects.

“There’ll be lots of different arts forms on offer from carnival arts to performance, large sculptures and mural painting – but really, we want to see what direction the young people want to take it in.

The pair believe that providing these kinds of opportunities for young people is especially important in rural communities where access to arts activities and careers can be more limited.

“If you live in a city, there’s an awful lot of free arts opportunities on your doorstep,” Emily said. “Many of our artists are under thirty and I think what we're creating is a community.”

Above the space destined to be the young people’s hub are three new, airy studios with high glass ceilings and beautiful light.

“We’re hoping to fill the new spaces with visual artists, costume makers or people who want to make bigger work,” Emily continued.

“It can be quite lonely to be an artist, so to have somewhere to work together – even if all you're doing is having a chat when you come in or eating lunch with somebody – it makes you feel like you're not on your own and there are other creative people on your doorstep.”

As well as focusing on reuse, Ragtag also have an ethos of inclusion, and their new work experience project for young people with learning difficulties and additional need, highlights that.

“We’ve just had funding from the Frieda Scott and Stoller Trusts to support the programme,” Emily said. “Young people come to us and really develop practical skills whether that’s mathematics through counting and measuring, or woodworking in our workshop space.

Rag and Tag on tour (Image: Ragtag Arts)

The young people have been splitting pallets and building our Loose Part Play trolleys that go out into schools, and as the project progresses, they're going to create upcycled products out of pallets too.”

The team place real importance on making sure the work experience placements are meaningful and that the young people involved get to see the outcome.

“I think it gives a sense of pride,” Emily continued. “When you see pictures of a trolley that has been sold to a school and you think, ‘I made that,’ it has value – we’re not just asking people to come and do made up, pointless tasks.

“Everything has a purpose and supports the whole of Ragtag.”

That interconnected spirit was born out of the relationship between Emily and Josh, but as their team of staff and volunteers has expended, the family feeling remains.

“I think sometimes we’ve gone, ‘why are we so stressed?’” Emily laughs. “And then we realised it was because we’d done all this, and we couldn’t do it on our own anymore – and that was really exciting to bring fantastic people onboard to help with our growth.”

“Yeah, and that closeness that we've had from the very beginning has been the blueprint of the way our team works and so as people have joined us, it's been like joining a family,” Josh added.

How do they feel about the future?

“It's a privilege to be able to work on a project you’ve grown, that you’re really passionate about, and to work with your friends,” Josh continued. “We love it.”

For more information about Ragtag Arts, to get involved in one of their projects or to donate materials to the Scrapstore visit www.ragtagarts.co.uk or call 01539 232552