Tools of Hope
Help us to send Tools of Hope to Africa
Tools of Hope is a campaign encouraging churches and community groups to get together and make a profound impact by donating and supporting tools that give hope to people who previously had none.
How It Works:
This campaign focuses on two impactful actions:
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Collecting Tools: We are asking churches and groups to consider running tool collection drives. These could be hand tools, power tools, sewing machines, or any other tool that's in one of our kits. Your congregation or community's old or unused tools can make a world of difference to individual lives, as well as families and communities.
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Raising Funds: Alongside tool collection, churches can also raise funds to support TWAM's mission. These funds will help cover the costs of collecting, refurbishing, and packing the tools, ready to be sent to where they are needed the most. We would typically suggest a donation of £1 per tool donated. We have seen drastically increasing costs in all areas of our work, so you will really be making our work possible despite the struggles of the current economic climate.
Please have a look at the resources below, which you can use for your campaign. Join us in our mission to empower people with the tools they need to transform their lives. With your help, we can instil hope, one toolkit at a time.
How to run your tool collection drive
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Decide on a date, time, and place to run your tool drive
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Call us to find your nearest van manager and arrange for the tools to be collected on your chosen date
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Set up your online fundraising pages or print off our donation form
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Spread the word using:
-Social media, photos and captions are provided below
-Posters, A4 and A5, available. You can put them up in church, etc.
-Local news, use the provided press release template
-Church newsletter. If you write one or know someone who does, ask them to add the event details
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Run the event, encourage people to bring their tools and donate a certain amount of money towards their refurbishment (£1 per tool is a good figure). Display impact stories (printable) on the day so people can see where their tools are going. Request leaflets if you’d like us to send them to you. Get a secure box for donations and encourage people to add their details to the donation form
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Wait for the TWAM van to arrive to pick up the tools. Send the collected donations by cheque/online donation/bank transfer, and post the filled-in donation form to us. Make sure to fill in your information so that we can thank you.
Resources
Publicity
Here are some posters, flyers, and invitation cards that you can print off to publicise your event. We have two sizes: A4 and A5. You can cut the smaller sizes into individual flyers. Click on the bottom right of each image to download them.
Social Media
We have a variety of images that you can use on social media to publicise your campaign. Simply click on the bottom right of each image to download it. You can use these whenever you post about your campaign. Click here to download a document containing potential captions that you can use.
Extra Resources
Here are some more resources that you may find useful when you run your campaign. We have a press release template which you can complete with information about your group and event, and then send to local press. We also have two impact stories which you can print out and display during your collection to show people how their tools and funds will be used. Click on the images to download the files.
Press release
template
Didier's story
Nelly's story
Sponsorship Form
Here's a form you can use to keep track of any donations that are made, should you wish to. There are instructions for how to post the form back to us and how to send us the donations that you have collected. Click on the image to download the form.
Sponsorship form
Church Benefits and Resources
Why hold a Tool Day?
It’s a great way to reach your community.
How many times have people said to us "I didn’t know there was a church here"? We all know how hard it is to get ourselves noticed and have an impact in our community. A Tool Day is a really easy and positive way to make a difference and bring people into the church. One of the hardest things is to get people through the door, but an event like this can achieve that and hopefully create an opportunity for a second visit.
It creates a very positive message
Virtually everybody recognises the importance of being environmentally responsible, and it is such a positive message for a church to be seen to be supporting this. Saving tools from landfill and sending them to Africa to equip skills training centres and give to graduating trainees is something everybody can understand. It is such a simple idea, and one people easily understand and readily embrace. A hand-up rather than a hand-out resonates with most of us.
It opens up new opportunities
During the Tool Day drop-off period, why not open a Coffee Shop or have a Fair Trade or craft stall to encourage people to stay longer? Homemade cake stalls are always a winner.
Most churches have a number of men on the periphery, perhaps husbands or family members. Why not ask them if they would like to be involved in the tool collection? Maybe they could help sort out the tools and remove any that are broken and unsuitable.
A great way to invite people to church
If you hold a Tool Sunday service, you could invite them along and perhaps ask them to help set up a display in the church. There is far more chance they will come to the service if they take ownership of the event.
Why not follow up the day, especially if you hold it on a Saturday, with a Tool Sunday? You could use this to display the tools and dedicate them to the Lord as you send them on their way. We have a Tool Sunday talk and PowerPoint you can use, along with an all-age ‘Name that Tool’ quiz.
Sponsor the tools you receive for their journey to Africa
We would love you to sponsor the tools you collect. £1 can cover the cost of sending a tool to Africa. Some, like a large welding machine, cost a lot more and some like a screwdriver cost a lot less, but it will balance out. Some, like a full mechanics socket set, would class as £1 and it is more about the spirit of the sponsorship. You might hold a special Tool Sunday collection or give the proceeds from the cake stall. Once again the opportunities are endless.
Think long term
Perhaps you could think long-term and become a tool collection point. Many of our tools come from the bereaved, and we receive many phone calls from widows trying desperately to find a home for their husbands ‘shed full of tools.’ This is a ministry in itself. Once again, this might be a way of engaging long-term with the men on the periphery of the church who you invited to help with the Tool Day.
Name That Tool Quiz
This is a great quiz which encourages people to guess what a tool is and what toolkit it goes into. This is useful when introducing Tools for Hope Tool Collections to your church or group. It's a good way to show how challenging it is to make up standard kits when such a wide variety of tools is required. It's also a great way to give people more of an idea of the tools that can be donated. Click on the image to download each document.
Name that tool script
Name that tool PowerPoint
Church Tool Day Service Talk
It would be great if you combined a Tool Collection day, perhaps on a Saturday, with a Church Service. The service could act as a dedication service for the tools, as you commit them to their new life in Africa and also use the opportunity to take a special collection to fund them on their journey. Here is a talk for you to use on such an occasion.
Service talk