@12baskets: Create it – Use it – Share it

One of the main reasons for setting up twelvebaskets was to create a means of sharing good, original worship resources. At the time we were leading monthly services with a high visual content, spending hours and hours putting it all together and then what? So much effort and creativity for just one use! We had the brave idea of looking for a publisher and then ran into two huge barriers. Firstly the cost of making, marketing and distributing a DVD. Secondly copyright, an issue that had not previously been of any concern to us. What else was Google images for?

The cost of legally using images was quite prohibitive, but something we had to deal with (on both a moral and a legal level) and that is when the idea of www.twelvebaskets.co.uk came about.

• Why not set up a site to encourage people to share their original work, be it images, written, music, PowerPoint’s or movies?
• Why not create a place to share photos where the small print is clear and simple, and costs are in line with church finances?
• Why not encourage people to think legal, instead of just cut and paste no matter what the quality and copyright infringed?

We launched our first site at Greenbelt 2006 and have grown from just a few holiday snaps to currently over 15,000 user contributed items with tens of thousands on the way in the months ahead.

In October 2010 we launched our completely rebuilt site with better data handling, and improved search facilities. The new site is a great platform for sharing resources such as those being produced for the Big Bible. We have just entered into partnerships with SPCK and Wild Goose Publications that will see their work available to those who subscribe to our site. It also allows creatives to work with us to visualise resources published by both of these companies.

We believe that there is a great need for stimulating, quality, creative worship resources that encourage people and adds value to what they are trying to achieve.

Our strap line has always been Create it – Use it – Share it. Be legal, think original, and think how many more people can be touched by your creativity.

Provided by Wayne Grewcock of Twelvebaskets.