Our grand opening was on 20th October, and today, almost a month later, we have 14 inducted members and 16 people waiting to be inducted.

We have storage space for members’ projects now:

We’ve also got some posters for members to tell us about what equipment they’d like us to get (some since acquired), and – as we have very limited funds for equipment – a very offline way to informally crowdfund for particular items:

And, since the poster thing has been turning out so well, we added another for sharing materials and coordinating skill-sharing:

Members are invited to write on this poster if they want to teach others how to do their favourite crafts, or if there are particular skills they would like to learn.

Also, our kitchen now has shelves, a sink and a working hot water supply, and a little fridge under the worktop:

Today’s open day was pretty good, we had a few visitors coming from the repair cafe over the road, and a couple of new members signed up. Cassian and Avery used some salvaged materials (left by the previous pop-up art shop tenants) to create a sandwich board to make the workshop look more open and welcoming on open days:

Things are still pretty chaotic, and occasionally overwhelming, especially with regard to offers of donated items! We have a small space so we have to be quite careful. Also, there are only three volunteers at the moment, with limited time and energy, so we can’t accept anything that needs any kind of mending, maintenance, etc.

We’re sending out emails to applicants once a week or so, to offer time slots for induction, and managing about 3 sessions per week.

Our next open day is scheduled for Saturday 25th November, 12-2pm, but we may not have enough directors/volunteers to manage it – stay tuned! If you want to be sure we’ll be there to show you around, come on Wednesday 6th December, 6-8pm. Open days are intended for everyone, members and non-members alike, to drink various hot beverages and make things together – come along and meet each other!