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Call out to launch the Retro / Eco Computer Club

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.

Scavenger Labs at Iron People

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 launche of Todmorden Makery - a community workshop for making and fixing

Scavenger Labs have started start a new space for making, repairing and inventing. We have been awarded Town Council grant funding to establish a community workshop located in Todmorden Community College.

Following the success of the pre-covid monthly Repair Café , Mick Chesterman of Scavenger Labs decided more could be done to create a long-term space for people to make, create and repair, as well as provide a home for like-minded community focused projects.

Making the Family Fixit Campaign

Making the Family Fixit Campaign with Ferney Lee School. A group of campaigners, artists and educators came together with the schoolchildren and staff at the school to create an environmental campaign to reduce waste.

This report describes what we did and what was valuable about the processes we used. It is aimed at other educators who may want to take inspiration from our activities and perhaps reuse them in their own way. The report covers the three main phases of the project