Graham and Lin Dean, from the Friends of Heysham Heritage Centre, receiving a “new” PC from us. This machine will replace a knackered old laptop that they, and the other volunteers, were using, that was no longer fit for purpose.
We refurbish computers, mainly laptops, and pass them onto schools, refugees and other local community groups.
pew, pew, pew
festive maps
We were at the Food Futures winter market today, talking to members of the public about repairing items and offering to let them make some festive decorations from some discarded maps and laser cut baubles.
#foodfutures #closingloops
We will be making festive decorations from out of date maps and scrap materials at the new Lancaster Sustainability Hub in Marketgate on Saturday. Just pop down between 10am and 2pm and make something for yourself!
Yesterday, Saturday 4th November, 2023, we were in the nearby village of Brookhouse getting involved in a repair event. We found lots of young repairers to help us and made a record of what was achieved!
We actually had more repair experts than clients, which was disappointing, but people still need to be educated about even the possibility to repair a lot of items!
You are welcome to bring broken things in to our regular open evening at our makerspace in the centre of Lancaster!
The Space has now made available an XTools S1 Laser Cutter with 20W Diode Laser. Able to cut pine wood up to a thickness of 15mm, as well as engrave metal it includes a base for larger objects and lots of great features to ensure predictable and clean cutting and engraving.
You will need to talk to a member to be inducted in the use of any Laser Cutter, and pay a per minute charge for use, to pay for ongoing maintainance.
One of our directors has been recognised for his voluntary work with LAMM with two certificates from Lancaster District CVS. He didn’t win in either category, but it was great to get nominated! Maybe next year?
Are you a Student at Lancaster University? Would you like 24/7 access to the Space2 Makerspace?
Good news! you now have free access to the space whenever you need it. You don’t have to be an Engineer or Computer Scientist, just someone looking for a friendly and inclusive space to work on technology, art, or manufacturing projects.
To join, come to the space on any Wednesday open day and sign up as a student member, agree to the terms and conditions of the space, and attend any safety training needed for equipment. Storage space can be arranged for small projects, and specialist tools stored.
Would you like to say hello? Ask a question. Join the telegram channel and tell the other members what you are working on. Often members will meet up outside of the Wednesday sessions to work on specific projects, you might find a like-minded maker
Access to all equipment is free, except the laser cutter which is ‘pay as you go’ to fund laser servicing. The MakerSpace sometimes has free consumables such as printer resin and filament, but you may have to purchase your own.
Contact Space2 with any questions at https://lamm.space/contact/
Enabled with thanks to the financial support from the Faculty of Science and Technology, Lancaster University.
If you haven’t seen the space recently, and are curious about how many abandoned laptops are scattered around (Surprisingly, not as many as last year) take a look at https://lamm.space/about/ for updated images of the space, and the new PCs, 3D printers and equipment.
We have also been given a very kind donation of a dual extruder 3D printer. It is a bit dusty, but think of the possibilities!
Last night (Monday 4th October) LAMM was able to hold its first AGM in twenty months. Our rules state that the AGMs are an in-person affair with a set number of attendees needed to achieve quorum, and although we could have used on-line event conferencing during the lockdowns we held the physical meeting for a period when we could be truly in person.
As part of that meeting I prepared and gave a report, more a round up, from the board to the members. LAMM tries to be as transparent an organisation as possible, and in that light I present that report for distribution via our blog.
I wanted to start today with some meaningful quote, Like ‘it was the best of times, it was the worst of times’. However, to be honest, it’s been mostly just awful and we still seemed to be mired within issues so let’s skip that.
So while I quit moping I want to welcome you back to LAMM and our AGM. During the last twenty months since our last meeting you would think that life at LAMM would have been quiet. But we did not let a global pandemic and political upheaval stop us from showing how good a community we can be. Which allows me to segway into my first thanks.
I want to thank all the members who have stayed with us through these challenging years. I also want to especially thank those who were able to keep up payments. This in no way is meant to disregard those who could not manage, everyone had their own fiscal circumstances to navigate. But, those of you that were able to keep paying your fees kept LAMM alive. So you have the deepest regard and warmest thanks from the Board.
My second thanks goes to those who ran a successful campaign to get laptop and devices into schools and into the community. We had several hundred donated machines and over one hundred and fifty of these were repurposed for Schools. A further batch were given to those that are disadvantaged members of the wider community. You have our respect and grateful thanks. The continuing project will carry on as we hope to build on that in the future.
LAMM has moved in the last six weeks. We now have a bigger Space, SPACE 2, or Space Squared or Space to do. Whatever you want it to mean. A lot of you gave your time, your strength and mostly everyone gave their positivity to the effort. It has been greatly appreciated and the new Space is already looking great and we look forward to completing the organisation, bringing tools back online in readiness for re-opening to the general public. All members are welcome back into the Space and we’d appreciate any suggestions. Bil has already built a new moveable wood store. So that is my third thanks.
Lastly I want to single out Bil who also ran our first outside event post-pandemic last weekend at the Fun Palace. He once again engaged with young people and the wider community and had them destroying laptops. Every effort is appreciated and the board are grateful that we have a membership who are willing to get involved, organise and run events.
To the future we look to you. Hopefully we will now have more face to face contact. I encourage you all to use the Telegram channel and notice boards (when it is put up) to leave messages and suggestions and I dearly hope that we can all start to get our own projects completed. But we also need to grow our numbers and show what a great community workshop we can be. In the coming year we hope to form alliances and cooperative projects with other groups and with local academic institutions.
Finally, I want to say something personal from me. Not from the board. I want to share a fear. I worried at the start of the lockdowns. I felt that this may end our organisation. We would struggle to survive and this left me feeling helpless. But we have come through, we have contributed to a positive change in our local community and we are now in a stronger position to grow. So thank you all.
LAMM is very dear to me and to see it not only survive but become greater has been a very bright light in what has been a dismal time.
So you all have my personal thanks.
