Todmorden Makery

About this consultation # As Todmorden Makery continues to evolve, we would like to hear from members, volunteers, participants, partners and the wider community about what matters most to you. This consultation is being organised by Mick Chesterman and Steve Summers in their roles as Directors of Scavenger Labs CIC, the parent company of Todmorden Makery. The purpose of the consultation is to gather feedback from the community to help inform future decision-making about the Makery.

Another productive evening in the Women in Workshops drop-in. Three different projects going on - shelving, a prototype outdoor ‘sculpture’ and another display board for the makery. Come along next month and learn new skills in a friendly, relaxed and supportive group.

🚲Bike Repair expansion- Community consultation, Sat. 9 May 2-3.30pm We’re planning an expansion of our popular Monday evening Bike Repair drop-in and it’s important that we provide a service that suits community needs. We would like to invite you to an informal, in-person get-together to chat over a cuppa and cake about plans and get your responses. We will also have the pleasure of a renowned local artist joining us to create ‘Visual Minutes’ of our discussions, culminating in an artwork to celebrate this new project, hope you can join us!

Hi there, Thanks if you filled in the evaluation for the computer club sessions in December. Here is general feedback from the online form followed by some anonymised personal feedback that we collected in person. Feedback from online form Evaluation of the Computer Club at Todmorden Makery # Summary structured using green, yellow, and red categories Green: working well / clear positives # Good level of interest and sustained engagement. Strong value placed on meeting people and social contact for computer enthusiasts. Weekly sessions help maintain focus and allow questions to develop. Increased confidence in sharing ideas and getting feedback. Practical learning valued, including Linux use, command line tools, and system understanding. Curated choices and suggested directions reduce overwhelm. Interest in creative outputs and applied work. Community-facing projects seen as motivating, including a local website for the local area. Laptop reuse and resale viewed positively. Yellow: emerging issues / areas needing development # Mixed experience levels among participants. Need for differentiation between beginners and more experienced attendees. Desire to work more deeply on a single topic rather than covering many. Strong interest in privacy, security, and tracking, but recognition that research and myth-busting are needed. Need to frame security topics carefully to remain empowering. Red: risks / constraints to manage # Lack of clear pathways may reduce momentum if sessions feel too open-ended. Risk of privacy and security discussions becoming overwhelming or anxiety-inducing. Loss of tacit digital skills when changing tools or platforms. Computer Club feedback (handwritten notes) # Participant A

Green and Pleasant Computer Club 💾🌱 # Computing that is calmer, lighter and more in our own hands 📍 At Todmorden Makery, Tod College, Burnley Road, Todmorden You are invited to join a short pilot of the Green and Pleasant Computer Club, a friendly weekly group exploring slower, low-stress and more eco-aware ways of using computers. Sessions run on Mondays, 12.00 – 14.00. Pilot dates: 24 November, 1 December, 8 December, 15 December.

Let’s compute like it’s 1999! The Green and Pleasant Computer Computer Club is a community programme that helps people explore a slower, lighter, and more independent way of using computers. The club draws on Marshall McLuhan’s idea that the medium is the message and treats the early web and email era as a useful template. We focus on practices that predate attention harvesting feeds and AI driven filtering, while reviving the strengths of simple publishing and direct communication. Alongside practical skills, the club supports mental health self care through calmer, more intentional digital habits and an ethical approach to technology.

Our volunteers have fixed up a few laptops donated from a local school. We’ve also bought hard drives for them- on offer are 4g or 8g Ram. They have a version of Linux on them called Mint- it’s very similar to Windows but has less problems with viruses and going out of date. If you need the Windows operating system the computer guy at Tod Market could put that on pretty cheaply.

This MakeCode Arcade manual introduces a flexible approach to learning game making through the 3M model (Missions, Maps and Methods), developed through practice and shared through research. It supports creative, accessible, and learner-led coding.

The Makery and some of the workers and directors of the Makery are involved in this project. It’s a good one and we are helping to promote it. Click the following link to book on - https://www.northern-broadsides.co.uk/iron-people/ A Summary of the workshops follows. Slowing the Flow Creative Writing Workshop Saturday 18 Jan, 2pm – 5pm Todmorden College