Have you ever been in the position where you find yourself shopping out late at night for one missing ingredient or even for something you need like a cable or battery? A whole journey to complete a cake, pour a tea or even charge a phone?

In the UK we’ve become accustomed to having convenience shops nearby or access to late night supermarkets. Many shops are open on Sundays and there’s even 24 hour shopping in some places. When previously we would have had to adapt or improvise when something was missing, now we are almost expected to buy it to make it right. This change has happened in parallel to fewer of us knowing or even speaking with our neighbours. Perhaps these are linked?

Do you have any spare … ? Could I borrow your … please?

Could we build community this way? Make friends? Be there for each other? Reduce wastage and unnecessary trips?