Latest News and Features

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.

Post by Mick linking his PhD work with the Makery - This post explores the idea of ‘jamming’ as a metaphor for collaborative and project-based learning, connecting informal learning spaces, game making, participation, agency, and community creativity.

🚲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.

Scavenger Labs contributed to The Iron People programme led by Northern Broadsides through workshops and public outputs in Todmorden. At Todmorden College, Mick Chesterman ran a campaign workshop with students exploring environmental themes, particularly flooding. Steve Summers recorded audio contributions from participants, capturing local stories and campaign ideas developed during the sessions.

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

After running the workshop for a few years, here are some useful bits of information.

It’s Mick here with a post about asking for potential volunteers for the digital devices work we do. At the Makery, we’ve done a fair bit on finding new homes for digital devices of laptops and phones. And also helping people to use phones and laptops them with a monthly Tech and Tea. It’s been working really well. people are happy to donate us their old devices, we wipe them and test we can get them working well and people on limited funds really need these devices.

These workshops are run by some of our members as unpaid volunteers as a way to highlight some of the ongoing skill sharing that happens at our drop in sessions. The resources for these workshops have been provided as part of our ongoing support from CFFC - Community Foundation for Calderdale. A form to sign up for the workshops is included at the bottom of this page.

Sign up via this form or send us an email. Loading… These induction and welcome and orientation events are supported by CFFC as part of a community grant to support our work with volunteers.

When: Friday 11 October at 1.45pm – 3pm Where: The Makery, Todmorden Community College, Burnley Rd, Todmorden OL14 7BX Price: FREE No need to book – just drop in Katrina Heath, a Todmorden resident and a freelance in theatre as a producer, director and facilitator, has invited the Makery to host and for the Makery members to take part in the Northern Broadsides project Iron People. What is Iron People?

In early August 2024 our colleague and friend John Sutcliffe was admitted to Calderdale Royal with acute liver and kidney failure and long standing heart failure. We are sorry to say that John passed away in the early hours of 21st of August. His passing was thankfully painless. John was a well liked and irreplaceable member of our team at the Makery. He will be greatly missed.

Hi there, Here are some notes from the Members meeting on the 7th of June. If things are not quite right there is an online version here that you can comment on and the record can be updated. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dQaSBD2ZLE8aB5geDY5NzD5SULVeCBE68nEXhXphfeY/edit#heading=h.npu6qshlhfpp All the best from the meetings’ hosts. Mick, Nicola and Caroline Minutes / Notes from Makery Members Meeting - 7th June 2024

Come visit the Makery community workshop and find out what we do. Makery Tour Wednesday 29th May: 14.30 - 15.00 pm Wednesday 5th of June - 19.00 - 19.30 pm Makery Workshop - Todmorden College - Burnley Road This is a chance to come visit the Makery to find out what is happening and what is available at Todmorden’s community workshop. These event make up a series of orientation events to help you find out if there is something for you at the Makery or we can help you make new things happen.

Happy Leap Day! Here is a very quick newsletter for the Makery. First of all many, many thanks to Todmorden town council for funding us towards our core costs of rent, insurance and materials etc. The town council were are first funders back in 2021, and while are have been very lucky to get generous donations from our members, we still rely on this support. Many Thanks Again!

This page links to important information and policies for our members and volunteers. Makery Complaints Policy Todmorden Makery - Agreements Makery Information for new members Guidance for drop-in session hosts Guidance for regular volunteers / keyholders Guidance for co-ordinators Safeguarding Health and safety Equality and Diversity Support (‘Feeling wonky’)

In September to November 2023 we ran the following workshops for Todmorden residents with help from the local Ward council who paid for resources and workshop leaders and CFFC who provided support via Nicola our volunteer coordinator.

Many Thanks to Grace for Making this Video. https://youtu.be/jF1mdf1aY4A