In June 1979, a first consignment of 1,400 refurbished tools went (with shipment paid for by UNESCO's Youth Division) to SIDO, the Small Industries Development Organisation in Tanzania.

Much of 1979 and 1980 was spent trying to form an efficient yet democratic organisational structure for the NGO, and also seeking premises large enough to cope with the storage, refurbishment and shipping of tools.

In 1980, Tools for Self Reliance was registered as a non-profit company and a year later, with support from Peter Gardner and the Minstead Lodge community, it raised a loan to buy a dilapidated property at Netley Marsh, near Southampton.

Funds were always limited, though the situation occasionally improved thanks to a successful BBC Week's Good Cause appeal by Bishop Trevor Huddleston (1983), and support from Quaker and other foundations.

Tools for Self Reliance built up long-term partnerships with indigenous organisations as they, in turn, gave training and support to the young and unemployed, to women's groups, to disabled people and refugees.