Author: Jackie Pease

Welcoming our July 2024 Start Boost Members – Mark and Claire!

2nd July 2024
"Welcoming our July 2024 Start Boost Members – Mark and Claire!"

We’d like to welcome our new July 2024 start Boost members, Mark and Claire!

Workshop Membership Winner – Mark Cutler

Mark is a graphic artist and illustrator and you can find his facebook business page here.

Desk Membership Winner – Claire Berry

Claire is the founder of Fem de la Femme comedy (@femdelafemme_comedy on Instagram, website www.femdelafemme.com).

She says “I’m chuffed to bits to have won office space with DoEs, it will help me so much to keep on track with all with the inevitable admin, I’m way too distracted at home, so I’m looking forward to being a lot more productive and focused. I run a little CIC called Fem de la Femme in which I run comedy events, projects and workshops for women. Recently Its been starting to really gather momentum, which is fabulous so the timing of Joining DoEs is perfect I’m also looking forward to meeting other like mind folks running their own businesses and making their own little mark on the world”

DoES Liverpool Does Threads – Sunday 28th April 2024

23rd April 2024
"DoES Liverpool Does Threads – Sunday 28th April 2024"

We’re taking over Tate Liverpool + RIBA North at Mann Island next Sunday 28th April from 13:00 to 16:00 for an afternoon of creative activities bringing together traditional textile techniques with modern, digital ways of making.

We’ll be bringing along examples of fibre arts tools that we’ve made using our 3D printers and laser cutters, including weaving looms and sashiko stencils, as well as some of our favourite digital tools such as our CNC embroidery machine and pen plotters. We’ll also be displaying a selection of simple wearable electronic circuits by artist Laura Pullig.

Throughout the afternoon there will be the chance to join artist-led drop in textile crafts. Here’s a quick run through of what to expect:

Liz Taylor – Sashiko and visible mending techniques

Liz will be delivering a sashiko hand sewing workshop using Japanese patterns for stitching to create attractive patterns that can be used for visible mending. She’ll be using laser cut and 3D printed templates.There will also be demonstrations of the embroidery machine, making patterns and patches.

Local maker Liz, from Sew Taylor Made Designs, uses Japanese fabrics to handcraft bags and accessories. She was creative from an early age, sewing and creating art. After moving from Australia, Liz was influenced by sewing techniques from around the world whilst teaching and travelling. She developed a love of sewing with Japanese fabrics after being introduced to them by a friend. Many of the patterns on the Japanese fabrics Liz uses were traditionally stitched by hand using a technique called sashiko. Sashiko embroidery creates decorative patterns with a running stitch. She enjoys it as a mindful method of stitching (that’s also highly addictive) It can be used for decorative purposes or for mending, which was its original purpose.Liz became involved in DOES as an interest in laser cutting developed, making stamps and other items for her business. This evolved to using other equipment, such as the embroidery and sewing machines, and becoming involved in the community.

Instagram/Facebook: @sewtaylormadedesigns

Karen A Scott – Making flowers using yarn, recycled fabrics and 3D printed peg looms

Karen will demonstrate how to make t-shirt yarn and various ways of using peg looms to create cords, tubes and flowers.

Karen is a multi-skilled, master maker, who uses minimal tech and has a love of hand tools. As her
dexterity declines, she finds new, innovative ways of doing her work sometimes creating tools and
integrating tech. She adapts traditional processes & techniques such as embroidery, crochet and
chainmaille working with plastics and ring pulls.
Discarded plastics and cardboard, reclaimed wire, preloved textiles and yarns are worked with to
create wearable art, sculptures, costumes, puppets and sets for performance and festivals.
Karen is extremely precious with her waste material, understanding that collecting, processing and
crafting takes time, skill and effort and hopes to spark creativity and encourage others to use
discarded materials.
Instagram Kassimaker

Tamasine Seibold – Free form weaving – Creative expression through weaving

Tamasine will be inviting participants to explore colour and texture through yarn and various looms. To weave with freedom, to your rhythm – there are no rules.


Instagram @tamasine_seibold

Mike Gorman – Demonstration of rug hooking on a large rug project

Mike will deliver a workshop on rug hooking of initial letter squares, as well as demonstrating 3D printing of frames and repair parts

As a maker and organiser at DoES Liverpool, Mike gets involved in many different
projects, as well as passing on his knowledge to other members and visitors who visit DoES
Liverpool. His main interests are in technologies such as electronics, CNC, Laser Cutting, 3D
printing and Electronic Music, but he also has a passion for rug making, currently mostly Rug
Hooking, and organises a monthly Repair Cafe at DoES Liverpool as part of his interest in repair
and re-cycling. Instagram @gorman662

Zarino Zappia – Paper Dolls

Zarino has designed a set of paper dolls and costumes, which he’ll be “drawing”, on-demand, with
one of DoES Liverpool’s pen plotters. Kids (and big kids) can cut out and colour in their own copies,
to take home.

Jackie Pease

Demonstrating some of the technology ‘Does liverpool’ has to offer the creative community .

Neil Morrin

Demonstrating how easy it is to make a fishing net using 3d printed netting needles

More details on the Tate Liverpool website, including accessibility and how to get there

Welcoming our April 2024 Start Boost Members – Conor and Snoof!

29th March 2024
"Welcoming our April 2024 Start Boost Members – Conor and Snoof!"

We’d like to welcome our new April 2024 start Boost members, Conor McDonald and Snoof Kattekop.

Workshop Membership Winner – Conor McDonald

Conor is our new workshop member and says “I’m 38, originally from Ireland but have lived in Liverpool for over 20 years now. I’m an Electrician by background, but have recently got in to 3D Printing at home. I hope to use my workshop time to hone my skills in 3D printing as well as branching out and learning how to use new kit. I’m really looking forward to using the CNC routers and laser cutters, and seeing how I can combine them with 3D printed items. “

Desk Membership Winner – Snoof Kattekop

Guessing that most of you will already know Snoof, our new desk member, already a DoES Liverpool organiser and active member of the community. She says that she’s planning “to make a little bit of everything, as chaotically as possible, but as always for me the community is the most important part :)”.

You can find out more about Boost membership here – keep an eye on our socials for your chance to apply for our July 2024 start membership.

Welcoming our January 2024 Start Boost Members – Kez and Neil!

1st February 2024
"Welcoming our January 2024 Start Boost Members – Kez and Neil!"

We’d like to welcome our new January 2024 start Boost members, Keziah Thomas-Mellor and Neil Morrin (admittedly it’s February, but we did have a couple of other people who unfortunately weren’t able to take up their spaces …)

Workshop Membership Winner – Keziah

Keziah is our new workshop member. Sounds like she’s got some interesting plans for her time at DoES Liverpool! In her own words: “My intentions are to continue refining my questioning of my relationship to the landscape, from growing up on paved pathways to walking and climbing in our ‘green and pleasant’ land. Speaking to themes of accessibility, ownership and climate change.

My previous involvement in woodworking has been building extensions of our environments to facilitate responses. Such as through ladders to binoculars, for the audience to gaze at harsh mountains drawn onto coffee lids, or platforms to heighten risk and focus within my durational performances.

I am currently interested in exploring boundaries and fences, paired with the varying types of stiles. Alongside this, I have begun involving tree bark, drawing upon its textures and a layer of protection. Though I’m not too sure yet how or if this might fit in, this is the exciting aspect of my practice as the workshop will have the facilities to explore this and encourage it to unravel. “

You can see some of Kez’ art at @keziahtmart

Desk Membership Winner – Neil Morrin

Neil is our Desk Membership winner. Here’s what he has to say about what he does, and what he hopes to get from his time at DoES Liverpool:

“What I do???? 

I drink coffee, allotment, ride bikes, build websites, do digital heritage stuff, communications, and website hosting. I also run Ignite Liverpool (open space talks) and Jelly Liverpool (open networking). 

What I aim to do as a Boost Member

I am an old friend of DoES Liverpool so this has felt like a bit of a cheat, but when John told me that I was the 3rd out of the hat and the previous two out of the hat hadn’t bothered responding and would i be interested I said YES YES YES. 

We were told years ago that we should take a day out from our normal work each week, to do something different as a way to think differently, to grow, and to bring those new skills back to our everyday jobs. So I want to use my boost membership to give myself some space to learn some new skills, make new things, and meet new friends. If I haven’t made 5 things by the end of this boost membership you all have permission to throw things at me.”

Ukraine Visit

30th May 2023
"Ukraine Visit"
Andy Green of 3DPrimo recently brought a group of Ukrainians to take a look round DoES Liverpool. Here he describes the visit:
On 9 May, DoES played host to a group of Ukrainian refugees based in Poland, who are over on a specially-arranged trip to Liverpool timed to coincide with the Eurovision Song Contest. We helped them create some of their own designs from scratch, whilst others adapted and personalised ones we had prepared earlier, including a Liver bird holding a Sunflower, the national flower of Ukraine.
These guys have experienced traumas at the sharp end of the war, so it was great just to be able to put some smiles on their faces and give them something to take back to Poland – and eventually Ukraine – to remind them of their time in Liverpool.
We were invited to add our names to a massive flag containing the handprints of orphans from Mariupol and we also humbly received messages of thanks from the organisers of the visit.
The visit is being covered in the local and national press and the group appeared on Granada News later that day.
Article in Echo: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/ukrainians-who-fled-war-heading-25230656?fbclid=IwAR36C4hAxYaf-RuNmeDPJYh-sfHO1SZYYboDe3cEahpyEDPdTP_wu0j4Sqc

Introducing our January 2023 start Boost members!

27th December 2022
"Introducing our January 2023 start Boost members!"

We announced our January 2023 start Boost members at our DoES DoES Christmas event. We had 30 entries, from which two winners were picked randomly and have now confirmed that they can take on the places starting in January. Here’s some brief details of our winners:

 

Susan Ryder

Susan is our new workshop member. She says she has many creative ideas and sees this opportunity as possibly the push she needs to achieve them.

You can find her on Instagram at @Thatkind_studio and @outwork_liv  (90s fitness classes!)

 

 

 

 

Tash Evans

Tash is our new desk member. She came in on Thursday to collect her tag and choose her desk, and has now sent us this picture – so if you see anybody hanging upside down, that’s her.

Tash is the founder of QueenswaY, a community interest company dedicated to platforming female, non-binary and LGBTQ+ artists. Working predominantly in the electronic music industry, QueenswaY strives for diversity and inclusion across festival and event line-ups working both locally and across the country.
She often works with Melodic Distraction, who run their radio station and bar from just by DoES Liverpool, so that part of her life is certainly going to be more convenient.

 

 

We’re really looking forward to welcoming our new members into the space more. Both are new to DoES Liverpool and they’re both eager to get started. If you see them while you’re in be sure to say “Hello!”

Unfortunately we only had two places to offer so we know that, as last time, there will be some people left disappointed now. We do hope to continue running this scheme on a regular basis though and there should be more information about the next cohort soon.

For the geeks amongst us… as mentioned we had 30 entries. Twelve of those were for a full time desk and the other eighteen for workshop membership. The Google Form puts the entries into a spreadsheet and we picked a winner by using “randomise range” on the rows. After that it was a simple case of going down from the top and picking the first of each type of membership, which brought us to Susan and Tash. The results were announced by John at our DoES DoES Christmas event (organised by Kirsty, one of our previous Boost members!)

 

Introducing Our April Start Boost Members

13th March 2022
"Introducing Our April Start Boost Members"

As you may have seen in our social media,  we’ve picked our second set of people to get Boost Membership!

In the end we had 37 entries. Two winners were picked randomly and have now confirmed that they can take on the places starting in April. Here’s some brief details of our winners:

Kirsty Styles

Kirsty is our new desk member. She lectures in journalism at the University of Huddersfield and is studying for a PhD at UCLAN. The picture shows her speaking at an event she created called Standup for Journalism, where she trained journalists to do standup comedy.

She’s hoping that having a desk in a coworking space with others will help her get her PhD finished.

She also sent us this photo of a hand embroidered hoop she made a few months ago, so maybe she’ll be taking advantage of our maker space as well.

You can find out more about Kirsty on her website here  and she’s also on Twitter.

Georgia Madden

Georgia is our new workshop member. As you can see from the picture, she’s already made it in to the space – she came in to this week’s Maker Night to introduce herself and pick up her tag.

She’s a stop motion animator, whose short film ‘Divination Dave’ has been featured on BBC New Creatives.

Georgia is looking to develop new ways to make stop motion puppets, props and sets and is excited to use the space to create armatures as well as miniatures and clothing for her puppets.

You can find more of her work on her website here and she’s also on Instagram.

We’re really looking forward to welcoming our new members into the space more. Neither have spent much time at DoES Liverpool yet and they’re both eager to get started. If you see them while you’re in be sure to say “Hello!”

Unfortunately we only had two places to offer so we know that, as last time, there will be some people left disappointed now. We do hope to continue running this scheme on a regular basis though and there should be more information about the next cohort soon.

For the geeks amongst us… as mentioned we had 37 entries. Ten of those were for a full time desk and the other 27 for workshop membership. The Google Form puts the entries into a spreadsheet and we picked a winner by using “randomise range” on the rows. After that it was a simple case of going down from the top and picking the first of each type of membership, which brought us to Kirsty and Georgia. Although once again no rubber balls or extravagantly designed and named machines were involved, this time we did use our Electric Liver Bird to display the results!

A Part-Way-Through Check In from Lauren, one of our first Boost Members

28th February 2022
"A Part-Way-Through Check In from Lauren, one of our first Boost Members"

We asked Lauren for a quick update on what she’s been doing so far. I think you’ll agree that she’s been making good use of her Boost membership to experiment and build up her product base!

“The DoES Boost Membership has been really great so far. I’ve really enjoyed my time working in the space and every person I’ve met has been so helpful, friendly and welcoming.
I’ve been spending most of my time learning how to use Tony, one of the big lasers. The beauty of the Boost Membership is that it has really given me the time to learn and experiment. I’ve been testing lots of different settings and each time I use the laser I have been getting better results. The out of hours access is excellent too, the flexibility is really useful for working around my family and two small children.

Here are some pictures of a few things I’ve made recently. This has only been possible due to the generosity of DoES Liverpool and the Boost Membership. Thank you so much!

If you are unsure whether to apply for the next round then don’t hesitate, it’s such a great opportunity!”

Little Chestnut Chopping Board Little Chestnut Chopping Board Little Chestnut Earrings Circle Flowers Little Chestnut Earrings Teardrop Acrylic Little Chestnut Earrings Teardrop Flowers   Little Chestnut Wooden Bouquet Little Chestnut Wooden Bouquet close up Little Chestnut Wooden Bouquet

If you don’t know about our Boost membership scheme, here’s a link to our original post, and the post from our second round (closing date for entries 11:59 on 28th February 2022)

 

DoES Liverpool Boost Membership

22nd November 2021
"DoES Liverpool Boost Membership"

DoES Liverpool are very happy to announce the DoES LIverpool Boost Membership offering a chance for six months of free access to our amazing workshop and coworking space. This scheme, which we’re launching to celebrate our tenth anniversary, gives more people the opportunity to get the benefits of being in DoES Liverpool and have access to the equipment we provide, and the amazing community that surrounds us.

Over the past ten years DoES Liverpool has helped hundreds of people to start a business, to build a project, or simply get a few hours of work done. We do this by providing a combined coworking office and workshop space that lets anyone in the city (and beyond!) connect to the internet; use laser cutters, 3D printers, and lots more workshop equipment; or simply sit at a comfortable desk with a laptop.

Throughout this time we have always tried to make sure that our space is accessible to everyone. Both physically accessible, by ensuring wheelchair and other physical access requirements are considered, but also economically accessible. We have tried to make sure our prices are as cheap as they can be, and have always offered some free access to the space through our Maker Day and Maker Night events, as well as our “first day free if you bring cake” scheme.

With the DoES Boost Membership we are expanding this provision of free access to the space by offering a full desk membership and a full workshop membership free of charge through a lottery application. The free access will be given for a six month period which we really hope will give participants the opportunity to try out an idea for a company, or a project, that they might not have been able to manage before. We aim to repeat this offer every three months which means that we should eventually be providing four spaces free of charge at any given time to people who can get good use out of them.

This will offer someone – who might otherwise struggle to afford a membership of DoES Liverpool – the chance to be in the space, make use of the equipment and become embedded in our community. The application process will be open to anyone; we hope that those most in need will apply and that those who don’t need free access will not. However we will not be judging any applicants as we do understand that a person’s situation might not be as obvious as it appears on the surface.

What do you get with a DoES Boost membership? All the benefits of a standard membership. A “desk” membership gives an allocated desk for a person to store their belongings and access to meeting rooms, whereas a “workshop” membership only gives access to the space and use of the workshop area with a “clean desk” policy. What they both provide is:

  • A storage box in the workshop area to store belongings
  • Access to all of the equipment in the space, with free inductions where necessary (with the usual booking and availability constraints)
  • Access to our incredibly fast internet connection
  • 24 hour access

To clarify, the following is not included with membership at DoES Liverpool:

  • Materials (e.g. 3D printer filament, plywood or perspex for the laser cutters)
  • Mentoring – people in the community will of course be very interested to hear about your projects and may offer their help but we do not employ support staff or technicians.
  • Access for all your friends and extended family – we would be happy to meet your friends and understand that sometimes a project might need a helping hand but this offer is for a single individual and needs to be treated as such.

We may of course change how the scheme works in the future, for example targeting specific groups that are underrepresented in our community. At this point we can make no guarantee about how long we will run this membership scheme but we do hope that it will be long lasting.

We look forward to welcoming our new members. Please spread the word to anyone that might be interested. If you want to apply just fill out the Boost Membership form here.

Note: Applications will close at 11:59pm on 12th December. A draw will take place and the successful applicants will be announced on 20th December.

New Safe Spaces Policy and Grievance Procedure adopted

8th February 2019
"New Safe Spaces Policy and Grievance Procedure adopted"

It’s almost a year ago since we asked for the community’s input to draft Safe Spaces Policy and Grievance Procedure documents that had been originally been put together by the directors (past and present).

There was great participation and many useful points were raised which went on to further shape the policies. Since then, we’ve employed Anna from Liverpool HR to bring her expertise to the documents before they were once again sent out to the community for their final approval.

We’re pleased to now formally adopt them for the community. You can access them from the bottom of the Home page here: https://github.com/DoESLiverpool/somebody-should/wiki. Please take time to familiarise yourself with their contents (it won’t take that long!). Although we haven’t had many issues in the past, there have been some, and as the DoES Liverpool community continues to grow we need to make sure that everybody treats each other fairly, and that when people think this hasn’t happened they know they can do something about it.

We also recently asked for volunteers for a new Grievance Team, to support the Grievance Procedure and deal with any grievances that can’t be dealt with informally, and again had a great response (you can see who the members are on on the People page of the Wiki: https://github.com/DoESLiverpool/somebody-should/wiki/People – thanks to everyone for giving their time). The new volunteers, plus the directors, have had a training session with Anna, and the Grievance Team is now live. Although we’d rather issues didn’t arise, we would definitely prefer people to come forward with their complaints as soon as they become a problem, and certainly we want to make sure that people feel comfortable in the space and don’t feel that they can’t contribute or, even worse, stop coming.

In an organisation that relies on volunteers and people learning from each other, we need to have a strong community. It’s what’s behind all our success, including our recent “New Economy” prize at the Inclusive Economy Liverpool Awards.

Thanks to everyone who’s been involved in putting these policies together, and to everyone who makes our community what it is.

Jackie, John and Adrian

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