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AN engineer in love with building blocks has created a platform with an aim to educate members of the public and build more support for charitable causes in the kingdom.
David Robinson founded Bahrain Bricks - a locally-based non-profit company which creates educational products including building blocks - along with his former co-worker and now business partner Eugene Hart in 2022.
Some of their latest creations include fun-to-assemble kits of the iCHECK mobile application logo of Think Pink: Bahrain Breast Cancer Society, and canine-themed kits representing Bahrain Animal Rescue Centre (BARC). Proceeds from the sale of the kits are donated to the organisations.
Bahrain Bricks is also collaborating on fund-raising campaigns with both charities for breast cancer awareness, education and research and finding homes for the strays at the shelter respectively.
The company was established only two years ago, but David’s fascination for blocks began at a young age.
“When I was eight years old, I had my first experience with Legos. But as I got older, they became a thing of the past. Then I had kids, and of course I had to buy them Legos,” the 52-year-old told GulfWeekly.
“Every time I would come home from a trip, I would bring them a new set. We would sit down and put them together for hours at a time. Then as they got older, Legos became a part of the past, once again.
“Then in 2019, I moved to Bahrain. It was around the time Covid-19 struck and I saw that Lego had come out with the 1:8 scale Porsche, Bugatti and Lamborghini. Well, one car turned into three in just a matter of days. Then it happened. I looked at the cars that I had finished, and started seeing ways I could make them better. So I jumped online and started ordering items that I could use to make them better. But then I thought: Why make them better when I could make my own.”
After gathering numerous models in his personal collection, David came up with the idea of launching his own company.
“I consulted with Eugene and together we decided to start Bahrain Bricks,” he said.
“The initial concept was to produce items utilising building blocks to create kits that would relate to Bahrain’s traditional and social values. It allows us to be able to give back to the Bahrain community.”
However, Bahrain Bricks’ vision has evolved since then and what began as an educational platform has now grown to include broader goals with a benevolent, communal angle.
“The short-term vision is to create products that will help support local government and non-profit organisations,” David, who lives with his wife Ester in Juffair, explained.
“The mid-vision is to create an iconic park with sculptures that represent Bahrain’s historic features, to include a scaled map of Bahrain.
“The broader vision is to create an ongoing product line that would support not only local non-profit organisations but government organisations as well. By doing this, it would allow us the capability to open our own manufacturing facility where we would hire mentally and physically challenged personnel to help with the production part of the business.”
Bahrain Bricks is currently working on an idea to collaborate with Bahrain National Museum to create educational kits that not only represent the kingdom’s history but also teaches people about the country’s rich heritage.
“This in turn can be used to bring the museum to classrooms across Bahrain,” David added.
For more details or to support the campaigns, visit bahrainbricks.org
