Author: Kay

LAMM’s Summer 2021 Update: Lancaster Pride and Space2.

Photo credit: the Lancaster Photographer/Lancaster Pride (2019)

Space2 is coming soon!! Yes, LAMM is moving to a bigger and better unit. 👍

We will shortly be getting keys to our new and improved workshop space in Harpers Mill on White Cross Industrial Estate in Lancaster. (Same business park, different building)

Space 2 will be a much larger unit, and we are very excited that it will be much more accessible too. We have spent years looking for an affordable upgrade, and we have finally found it. There is a lift in the new building so people who can’t do stairs will be able to come and join in the fun too! We will still be easily accessible on foot from the city centre and the buses stop right by White Cross business park (opposite the RLI).

So what comes next? Well, members please watch your email for details about when to move your personal projects etc. to the new unit and to volunteer for moving the communal tools and equipment. We will have some setting up to do in the new unit but the first couple of weeks in September are moving weeks!

Space2 should be open for members general usage from Oct and to the general public shortly after that. Full details on how to find us in the swanky new space will be posted as soon as we can open Space2. And, as some of you have been waiting a while, we are happy to say that we will be able to welcome new members as soon as we are in Space2. Use the contact form on the main page to get in touch

In the meantime, we will be proudly waving our banner on Sunday 22nd August as Lancaster Pride returns. Join us from 11am for the March (Sulyard Street starting point). As you can see from the photo of the 2019 event, it’s quite easy to spot out fabulous banner!

Yay! Space mk 2… Space to make… Space squared…

No more digital donations needed for now!

We at LAMM have been overwhelmed by the community response to our request for old laptops and tablets for school kids to use during lockdown. As most pupils will be returning to school from the 8th March we are suspending donations for the time being. We still have a stack of older laptops and tablets that need repair and refurbishment and we will continue to work on these and give them to local schools. Even if all pupils are back in school, there’s still going to be the inevitable ‘bubble closures’ and periods of self-isolation, not to mention that doing your homework in normal circumstances is much easier with a laptop!

We hope that we will take in donations again in the future to support all pupils having a suitable device at home for their school learning, but for now, please use other methods for recycling or reusing your old devices.

Thank you again, love from LAMM

Digital Donations: Update!

This is a quick update for all those who have been asking how our “donate a device” project is going. The short version is: very well and we’re very busy! But read on for the longer version…

In the three weeks since first seeing Dan’s tweet asking for 10 devices to urgently help for his school (he’s school governor for Trumacar Primary in Heysham), and our first requests for donations, we have been overwhelmed by the generosity of our local community. You are all wonderful generous people!

We have now given refurbished donated devices to 6 local primary schools, and they are all very grateful for the support of their community in helping out families in need. Here are some pictures:

  • Trumacar Primary getting iPads

  • Tablets for Castle View
  • Laptops for Moorside
  • Laptops for Dolphinholme
  • Laptops for Wray with Bolton
  • Laptops for Caton St.Paul’s

And this is an example of what our workshop looks like these days!

  • Laptops everywhere!
  • Sorting through new donations

LAMM’s project has been featured in the Lancaster Guardian here and on BBC Radio Lancashire, Heart Radio, Smooth Radio and even BBC North West! We are grateful to everyone who has passed on the message to their friends and colleagues about the project and to everyone who has emailed, messaged and contacted us about making a donation.

A couple of practical updates and FAQs too:
As you can see from the photos of our workshop, we are busy working to repair and refurbish a lot of donated devices at the moment. We are a small community group and everyone one working on this project has full-time jobs and family responsibilities, and is using their spare time to do the necessary work on the donated devices.

When will you pick up my device?
We have had far more requests for Covid-secure pickups than we originally expected and so we would ask everyone to be a little patient if it takes us some days to get around to collecting your device. We are only letting our members and DBS cleared volunteers collect your donations. This is a standard safeguarding measure for community volunteers visiting private houses, and we want everyone to feel safe with their donations! We currently aim to collect donations within 7 days.

If you can use the Drop Boxes in White Cross Business Park, then please do. The Gatehouse reception has security personnel there around the clock, so anytime is suitable to drop your device in our boxes in the main reception (Gatehouse) building.

Where will you pick up from?
We are following lockdown regulations and can pick up up only from the Lancaster and Morecambe area. Postcode areas: LA1, LA2 (West half only), LA3, LA4, LA5, LA6 (West half only). If you live outside of these areas we suggest you use this link to find a nearest scheme to donate to: https://techforuk.com/donate-your-tech/

Is my device suitable for donation?
In order of preference, we welcome the following donations:
1. Working Laptops which originally ran Windows 7 or later.
2. Tablets less than 5 years old (unpaired from your Apple ID if iPads)

Please note, we cannot unlock iPads ourselves unless we have an original proof of purchase and a signed receipt transferring ownership to LAMM. This is because only Apple can unpair a device from the original Apple ID if it is locked, and they (quite naturally) want to make sure it was legally acquired!

Finally, thank you again to everyone supporting this project. We are working hard to process all the donations from private individuals as quickly as we can, and get them to the children who need them. For any local companies wishing to make bulk donations, please visit this page: Laptops for Kids

Lancaster and Morecambe Makers says:

“Hack Your Half Term!”: Kids Open Afternoon @ the Space

Nothing to do during half term? Want to come and find out what you can do in a Makerspace?

One of our smaller LAMM members will be hosting an open session aimed at younger people who want to learn what a Makerspace is and there will be hands on stuff to do, play with and make. Adults also welcome, especially if accompanied by a young person 😉

When: Wednesday 17th Feb from 12pm to 5pm.

Where: LAMM Space, Unit 5 Sharpes Mill, White Cross Business Park, Lancaster, LA1 4XS

What: A whole host of interesting possibilities!

We will have small robots to play with like the MBot. You can use an app or a remote control to send it around the Space, or you can programme it to follow the path you want:

building the Mbot
Building the MBot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Or maybe you want to have a go at making yourself a key ring on the laser cutter or a paper shape on the Silhouette cutter…

acrylic laser cut star keyrings
acrylic laser cut star key rings

A mirrored acrylic keyring
A mirrored acrylic keyring

rainbow paper cut skull containers
rainbow paper cut skull containers

Or have a school bag that lights up in the dark…

Backpack with electroluminescent wire
Backpack with electroluminescent wire

Or maybe you just have some almost-broken charger cables that need a little Sugru to “hack it better”…

How to fix a cable with Sugru
How to fix a cable with Sugru (from Instructables.com)

Or maybe you have something you want to take to bits to see how it’s made, or learn to solder, or learn how to use a 3D printer (we have several 3D printers in the Space).

Come with a plan, or come to experiment.

Most of all, come and be a Maker!

(For the health and safety conscious, there will be at least one adult full member present at all times, and children must be accompanied by an adult.)