Co-Working

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.

DoES COVID Update – December 2020

1st December 2020
"DoES COVID Update – December 2020"

Covid-19 December Update

As we come out of Lockdown 2.0, we decided that this was a good time to thank everyone for their continued support of DoES Liverpool and confirm our policies and the steps that we have put in place to ensure that DoES is as Covid secure as possible.

Liverpool is coming out of this lockdown in a much better position than when we went in, which is reflected in our tier 2 status.  As you are aware, we have stayed open throughout the pandemic, albeit with some restrictions in place.  These restrictions are in line with the guidance published by the government and are summarised below.

Our recommendation is still to work from home wherever possible, and only visit the space if you need to use the equipment which isn’t available elsewhere or collect post or other items.

Our landlord, Jason, has installed hand sanitizer stations in the communal areas for people to use on arrival.   We have handwash in the toilets and handwash and disinfectant in the kitchen area.  You should wash your hands immediately on arrival at the space, and wipe down any desk areas or equipment that you use at the start and end of your visit.

Masks are not mandatory, but are encouraged.

Restricted Occupancy Areas

To help with social distancing access has been restricted to one person (or household) in some areas of the space.

The restricted areas are:

  • The laser-cutter room

  • The CNC room

  • The kitchen

  • The recess with the vinyl cutters and sublimation printer

  • The corner workshop desk and textiles area

  • The corner workshop desk and electronics workbench

These last two areas are marked out with tape on the floor, and are chosen so that you can either use the workshop desk or you can use the equipment (knitting machines, soldering irons, etc.), but there shouldn’t be someone at both at the same time.

As we are in the position that we cannot run any events, Sophia has been moved into the events space so that both cutters are bookable and available to use.  If you do book Sophia then please remember that she is in the events space.

Hot-desking

Given that our desks are too close together to allow people to maintain a 2 metre separation when sat at adjacent or opposing desks, people should stagger the desks they use relative to others.

To make that easier for people hot-desking, we have taped off some of the desks which shouldn’t be used.

People with permanent desks are welcome to use their normal desk, and in most cases this fits in with the marking out of hot-desks that we’ve done.

However, in some cases you’d end up sitting next to, or opposite, another person at a desk.  If that happens, please work with each other to work out a sensible option.  Either using one of the other available hot-desks, or asking the person if they can move instead.

Keeping our community safe

We all have a responsibility to keep our community safe, as such it is imperative that you DO NOT visit DoES if:

Please inform us (hello@doesliverpool.com) if you have been in the space and then develop symptoms within the following 48 hours, and subsequently inform us of your test result. This will allow us to inform any other people who were in the space at the same time.  Your identity will be kept confidential.

Most importantly of all, stay healthy over the coming months.

Accessing DoES Liverpool During COVID-19

26th June 2020
"Accessing DoES Liverpool During COVID-19"

A lot has happened since our last update on how we’re handling the pandemic at DoES Liverpool (including the community helping to keep NHS staff and key workers across the North-West safe by supplying over 24,000 visors!).  We hope you’re staying safe and keeping well.

With the visor project winding down (although still supplying visors to anyone who needs them) and the Government starting to slightly ease the lockdown we’ve been looking at how to reconfigure the space for better social distancing.

Our recommendation is still to work from home wherever possible, and only visit the space if you need to use the equipment which isn’t available elsewhere or collect post or other items.

Our landlord, Jason, has installed hand sanitizer stations in the communal areas for people to use on arrival.   We have handwash in the toilets and handwash and disinfectant in the kitchen area.  You should wash your hands immediately on arrival at the space, and wipe down any desk areas or equipment that you use at the start and end of your visit.

To help with social distancing we’re restricting access to some areas of the space.

Restricted Occupancy Areas

Everywhere is still usable, but certain areas where there is less room should only be used by one person (or people from one household) at a time.  These areas are marked with signs, like this one on the CNC room:

Door with "COVID19 maximum occupancy 1 person" sign

The restricted areas are:

  • The laser-cutter room (we have taken Sophia off the bookings calendar for now so that the room doesn’t get double-booked, but either cutter can be used)
  • The CNC room
  • The kitchen
  • The recess with the vinyl cutters and sublimation printer
  • The corner workshop desk and textiles area
  • The corner workshop desk and electronics workbench

These last two areas are marked out with tape on the floor, and are chosen so that you can either use the workshop desk or you can use the equipment (knitting machines, soldering irons, etc.), but there shouldn’t be someone at both at the same time.

Hot-desking

Given that our desks are too close together to allow people to maintain a 2 metre separation when sat at adjacent or opposing desks, people should stagger the desks they use relative to others.

To make that easier for people hot-desking, we have taped off some of the desks which shouldn’t be used.

Desk criss-crossed with tape to show it shouldn't be used

And have marked out the desks which are available for hot-deskers to work from like this:

Desk with a "Desk Available" sign

People with permanent desks are welcome to use their normal desk, and in most cases this fits in with the marking out of hot-desks that we’ve done.

However, in some cases you’d end up sitting next to, or opposite, another person at a desk.  If that happens, please work with each other to work out a sensible option.  Either using one of the other available hot-desks, or asking the person if they can move instead.

Finally, where possible open the windows to keep the space well ventilated.

If you have any questions about access, or any other issues relating to this, email hello@doesliverpool.com.  We are responding to communications, but only staffing the space on an ad-hoc, only-when-necessary basis.

As part of our preparation of the space, we developed the DoES Liverpool COVID specific risk assessment, which is reviewed on an ongoing basis as the situation evolves.

Corona virus hand wash sign

DoES Liverpool COVID-19 Plan

17th March 2020
"DoES Liverpool COVID-19 Plan"

Following the updated government advice regarding COVID-19, and the need for social distancing, we have taken the difficult decision to cancel all DoES Liverpool Events, including Maker Nights and Maker Days, starting immediately and until further notice. We will not be supporting external events as we will not have staff available to supervise them.

The space will still be available for use, although it will no longer be staffed and we cannot guarantee that access will be possible without a fob. Anyone who has a fob can access the space as usual.

We realise that many of our members use the equipment at the space to do their job and so we need to support them at an already tricky time.  That means that if you come in on an ad-hoc basis and don’t have the out-of-hours access but do have a fob, you’ll still be able to come in as you do now.  As there will be nobody around to take payment, please email hello@doesliverpool.com with details of what you need to pay. 

You should only come in if you need to work on something or to collect something from the space.  Please do not attend purely for social reasons.

The membership of our community encompasses a broad spectrum of people, some of whom fall into the “high risk” bracket posed by this virus. Please do not continue operating business as usual; we all have a duty of care to manage the threat this virus poses, if not to you specifically, to other more vulnerable members of society.

Please do not attend the space if you are unwell, especially if you have got a new persistent cough or a fever.  

It is everybody’s responsibility to ensure that the space is kept as clean as possible; as such we are requesting that you wipe down all surfaces before and after use, as well as other areas such as the fridge door handle.  Surface cleaning spray is available by the workshop sink in the kitchen. The space will still be cleaned as usual, this is an additional precaution.

It goes without saying that one of the best ways to protect yourself is to regularly wash your hands and avoid touching your face, especially when you have been interacting with other people and spaces.

If you have any questions about access, or any other issues relating to this, email hello@doesliverpool.com.  We will be responding to communications, just not staffing the space itself.

DoES Liverpool Online

DoES Liverpool was set up to stop people feeling lonely from having to work on their own at home. As such we want to continue to help you feel less isolated during this situation. We have a few ways in which you can stay connected to the DoES Liverpool community and we’d love to hear your suggestions too!x

Obviously that’s just a start.  We know that the DoES Liverpool community will be working out all manner of ways to connect and cope and have interesting things to share.  As always, there’s the #weeknotes hashtag for letting others know what you’re up to, and let us know if there’s anything you’d like us to share.

Finally, look after yourselves and keep an eye out for any vulnerable members of the DoES Liverpool Community as well as in your local community.

The DoES Liverpool Three-step Plan for Success

11th February 2020
"The DoES Liverpool Three-step Plan for Success"
Mug showing the three-step plan animating through

Step One: Do Epic Sh**

Do. Lots of people talk about amazing things, but then don’t make a start on them. We want to focus on and encourage the doing.

Doing is hard. We’re a community that helps and supports each other to do. We understand that sometimes it’s you pushing forward while someone else answers emails or empties the bins, because next week it’ll be the other way round.

Everyone wants to save the earth, but nobody wants to help with the dishes.

Photo: Copyright Dr. Laura James

DoES Liverpool isn’t providing a service to customers who pay us money, we’re a community that spreads its costs between its members.  Recognising, appreciating and acknowledging that all that behind-the-scenes, less sexy support work is what allowed the epic headline-grabbing sh** to happen.

What do we mean when we say “epic sh**”?

Julian experimenting with new control systems for CNC mills; Hex Ceramic developing new techniques for clay-work using laser-cutters; Patrick helping social enterprises to thrive; Ross scattering card reading stations along Hadrian’s Wall to build a distributed RFID card text adventure; Baylee coming along to 3D print herself a new prosthetic hand; Jax helping others level-up at coding through Ladies of Code Liverpool…

As you can see, “epic sh**” is many things to many people. It matters less what everyone else thinks about what you’re doing, and more that you’re pushing yourself into new ground.

Step Two: Tell People About it

If you’re putting the effort in to do the work, you owe it to yourself to tell people about it. This is often as hard, if not harder, than doing the work but it’s important.

At the very least, post something about it to any social media accounts where you hang out (if that’s Twitter then include “#weeknotes” so it will get picked up and shared in the next weekly blog post).  If it’s something you can take a picture of, or film a short video of it in action.  Show the thing.

Social media is great for short-term sharing, but things quickly disappear into the stream.  The next step is to have some sort of home on the Internet where you can collect things.  That could be a portfolio website or a blog, whichever is easier for you to set up.  Having your own domain is even better because it gives you some protection for when you need to change the underlying service.  If I want to recommend you to someone, or show them your projects, I should be able to send them a link; not suggest they sift through your social media profile looking for the important bits.

Make the time to write up a blog post about the project at the end. Get into the habit of taking photos and videos of things as they progress. Write things yourself and find your own voice, or make room in the budget to pay someone to film it or write about it for you. Or both.

It’s not about Marketing, at least not what anyone imagines when they think about marketing with a big M. It’s just about talking to people about what you do. Don’t worry about repeating yourself, just find different ways to talk about and show what you do rather than posting the same tweet again and again. We’re humans, not robots.

We’re also a community. One full of people doing amazing work.

We should support each other in sharing our work.  Remind and encourage each other to post photos or write things up.  Shout about others’ achievements: it’s always easier to talk about someone else’s work than your own, so we should do that for each other.  It’s not about mindless retweets, but sharing good work and interesting projects when you see them.

Step Three: Go to Step One.

Success isn’t about discovering “this one neat trick” to short-cut the work.  It is built on lots of small steps and achievements.  The next big thing is a lot of small things.

Further Proof That DoES Is Epic

13th June 2019
"Further Proof That DoES Is Epic"

DoES Liverpool prides itself on being a socially aware, socially responsible organisation, from the things that are produced here, to the way we deal with unwanted equipment and other recycling, and the initiatives we try to spearhead in the wider community. We host multiple environmental groups, as well as providing a home for charity workers among the technologists and makers. On top of all that, fairness and equity of opportunity has been at DoES’ heart since its creation – the reason our prices are kept as low as possible is to allow as many people as possible to have access to the equipment and expertise in the space, and our completely free Maker Events make absolutely sure that no-one need be left behind.

 

Recently, we took another step forwards by becoming officially accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as a Living Wage Employer. This means that DoES pays all staff at least the national living wage, as set by the Foundation. This is higher than the government’s minimum wage, and is calculated using the basic cost of living with the aim of ensuring workers can have a decent life.

 

Although there is currently only one member of staff, along with a cleaner, this accreditation ensures that any future staff members, whether employed directly by DoES or through an agency, would have to be paid the living wage, and will ensure that that rate is tracked for existing staff.

 

We are absolutely delighted to be the first co-working space in Liverpool, and only the second Maker Space nationwide, to be have this accreditation, and to continue our history of trailblazing. We consider this a challenge to other spaces, not just in Merseyside, but around the country – come and join us in showing your users that fairness starts at home, and that people are the most important resource we have.

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

Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

20th October 2018
"Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems"

What a difference a year makes. When I wrote last year about DoES Liverpool’s finances we were celebrating six years in business, we had ten thousand pounds in our bank account and were expecting to make a profit for the year. We were also in something of a precarious position regarding our lease in the Gostins Building and were considering a move that could be a great opportunity but would also be a bigger outlay. We also seemed to find ourselves in a real downturn in terms of desks being rented and were unsure of whether we could get ourselves out of that hole. So, where are we now?
Read More

DoES Liverpool Has Moved

2nd April 2018
"DoES Liverpool Has Moved"

 

DoES Liverpool has now officially moved to The Tapestry building.  When we re-open following the Easter holiday, on Tuesday 3rd April 2018, our new address will be:

DoES Liverpool
1st Floor
The Tapestry
68 – 76 Kempston Street
Liverpool L3 8HL

Thank you so much to everyone who has helped so far. There’s still plenty of cleaning and arranging to be done but if you don’t mind a bit of dishevelment then you’re welcome to come along and take a look. Our internet connection is active and the coffee will be brewing so you should be able to get some work done, although there’s a decent chance someone might offer you a paintbrush or mop!

This does mean that from this point our new pricing scheme is in action, as mentioned previously that is as follows:

Description Price Member Price
Single Day
(Workshop* or Desk)		 £12/day £10/day
Out of Hours Workshop £35/month £25/month
Monthly Workshop £65/month £50/month
Flexidesk £80/month £70/month
Monthly desk £180/month £165/month
Registered Address/Mailbox £99/year £79/year
Storage per cubic feet per month £3 £3

* – Gerald surcharge of £2/usage still applies

If you are interested in receiving the discounts mentioned above, or simply supporting our efforts, this page will show you how to become a member.

Any hot desk days you’ve previously bought are still valid in the new venue. If you have a permanent desk then we will work with you to determine where your new desk location will be. If you have monthly workshop membership then your storage box has been transferred and your membership continues in the new location.

If you have a registered address with us, please now update any records you have to use the following address:

Your Company
c/o DoES Liverpool
The Tapestry
68 – 76 Kempston Street
Liverpool L3 8HL

For the time being we will still be able to receive post at the Gostins Building but this will only be available for the next few months so we advise that you update your records as soon as possible.

As mentioned there’s still much to do so we don’t yet have glossy photos of our finished space, but below should give you a taster, together with the last moments in Gostins!

End. Of. An. Era. Goodbye Gostins, it’s been a fun 7 years. #weeknotes

A post shared by DoES Liverpool (@doesliverpool) on

APRIL FOOLS: UK Government Announces First Multi-million Pound Investment in UK Makerspace

1st April 2018
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"APRIL FOOLS: UK Government Announces First Multi-million Pound Investment in UK Makerspace"

Make sure you read to the end to find out full details of DoES Liverpool’s funding efforts, or TL;DR here: http://bit.ly/DoEpicFunding

Chancellor David Lidington today put in place the final building blocks of his “Northern powerhouse” when he announced the UK’s first Maker Enterprise Zone would be here in Liverpool.

The Government is putting £5m towards the DoES Liverpool move project – a collaboration between DoES Liverpool, The Tapestry and The Fabric District

DoES Liverpool will house and support new high-tech businesses around “sensor technologies”. It will also support new and existing businesses doing UX testing, public transit, wearable technology, home made 3D printed prosthetics, spoken language translation, social enterprise support, and basically any small business that needs their support. I mean, why limit yourself! 

Sensors are the crucial link between technological devices and the world around them, which is also incredibly important.  Capturing data on a whole host of areas such as temperature, humidity and pressure is really good, but then what do you do with that data? You interpret it, you present it, and you make sure people can understand it.

They can be used in everything from home security systems to medical technology and high-value manufacturing, don’t you know.

DoES Liverpool will help inventions go from the lab to the factory floor even faster, and act as a shop  window for foreign investment into Merseyside’s high tech start ups, as it has done for the last seven years


Mr Lidington told the ECHO: “The stuff being developed here is absolutely cutting edge.

It is better than anything else happening anywhere in the world, well apart from every other maker space. What’s the point in being ridiculously competitive and claiming to be the best when you can’t do it without the support of similar people around the world.

“We are all going to use the technologies being developed here and we are going to be able to say they were made in Liverpool, with massive support from the maker community around the world”

Mr Lidington is allocating £10.4m to upgrade the BT broadband provision in the centre of Liverpool, massively increasing the speeds available. A second 9600bps modem will sit alongside the existing 2400bps modem to provide speeds not seen anywhere else in the world, since 1991. Fortunately IX Liverpool and Baltic Broadband have independently installed a 10Gbps pipe which is available for use by people who actually want modern internet speeds.

Mr Lidington added: “I said I wanted to create a Northern powerhouse. You can link great cities like Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds together and create a real economic powerhouse.

“Alternatively you could pay people who have no idea about these things hundreds of thousands to build a big overpriced building that’s not fit for purpose, but who’d do that eh?!”

The Chancellor also denied Liverpool was being left out of the proposed high speed rail projects, even though it was.

However, Mr Lidington insisted the increased capacity would benefit the whole of the North West.

He said: “Liverpool is very much on the map. Not the one we have in Whitehall, but it seems to be on this one you just handed me. It says OpenStreetMap, what’s that? I’m confused, I’m sure we told Ordnance Survey to remove Liverpool back in the 80s”

“The geographical area isn’t that different to Greater London but they are separate cities. One is called Liverpool and the other is called London. Hold on did I just say I was funding Liverpool, no.. wait.. that can’t be right, who crossed out London and wrote Liverpool. Did I sign that?! Someone call the bank and stop that cheque!”

Provost Professor Stephen Holloway, who led the bid from the University of Liverpool, said:  “Creating a new space where ideas from our sensor research laboratories can be transformed  into new start-ups is a very exciting prospect for both universities and provides great opportunities them to skim the profits made by anyone that even walks past our buildings. We definitely thought we should have got the funding even though DoES Liverpool already did all this stuff on a shoestring budget.”

And Professor Robin Leatherbarrow,  who led the bid for JMU added: “This is a tremendous success for Liverpool and a superb example of how our two universities can work together in an area where we each have considerable complementary strengths. Wait, I thought we won the money?!”


ONLY JOKING! Of course DoES Liverpool hasn’t been awarded millions in funding, and we’re definitely not bitter. We do currently have a funding drive going to help pay for our move to our amazing new space in the Tapestry building. After seven years running and helping new high-tech (and low-tech) businesses get started we’re looking forward to the next seven years and hope we can rely on your help to get us there! Find out more about that here, and tell your friends!
https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/does-liverpool
(And apologies to Tony McDonough for ripping apart his actually quite reasonable and well written article I found here: https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/business/liverpools-15m-sensor-city-best-7365286, also partly inspired by this article extolling the virtues of makerspaces: https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/mar/28/britain-ideas-factory-uk-industry-creators-economy)
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