PM announced community spaces could open from 4th July, would this include us?
Which point might the makerspace be back?
Sorry just saw the other post
when we are ready I want this video :
On a loop in the front windows.
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I’m looking forward to coming back to the space as the world moves on to it’s next chapter. Wishing everyone a safe time as we wait it out 
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So I think July the 4th probably is fixed now so will the maker space open then or a few days after ?
It will be a slow, meticulous and experimental start, the big clean/tidy up has begun, and coding is happening to make a workable booking system
The reimpostion of lockdown in Leicester does not bode well for the future: it seems track and trace has totally failed…so, as ever, we’ll keep a close eye on the situation
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Could we not use the google calender booking system within discourse? Any indication if its going to be July, August, Sept, Oct, +?
btw my partner is a doctor in a south london hospital - they no longer have any covid patients in the entire hospital and they’ve not had a covid positive admission for 4 weeks. And their hospital was the second hardest hit hospital in London.
Southwark’s death toll is now actually below the “normal” range - calculated as the average over the preceeding five years.
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Hi Jack,
I have my hands full with a 85 year shielding dad with dementia and alzheimers who lives outside london and needs three meals dropped each day and witnessing meds being taken. That and overseeing a 2 year building project which is still ongoing and havent been able to live in my home in that time. Also not getting any of the covid government support or furlough packages so trying to get paid work when I am able to be free - I have my hands full - but well done to everyone helping make masks.
I want to have access to the space for my mental health - to be able to switch off from all the above. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
Regardless of my motivations, it doesnt change the facts from a frontline NHS hospital. No covid admissions in 4 weeks. No patients with covid on the wards. Wards are being returned to their normal use. Southwarks weekly death tolls are now below the normal range.
Please can we get our space back - safely, with protocols. We’re not forcing people to come in. If you dont feel safe, dont come in.
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It seems to me that there is a general dismissal of how much damage this entire situation it’s doing.
And that’s because Mental Healt it’s always treated as something not serius and prases like “Man up” or “Snap out of it” are used without thinking.
Let’s get technical:
This is the 7 days moving average of the number of death for Covid 19 in UK , reference here lowest value it’s 97 people.
I have been watching this curve every day since march 16 and you know? We are not doing bad, statistically speaking (and not press speaking).
I don’t blame people going out at the pub and have a beer, why? Because we are all human.
Maybe some of us have been out, had things to do, in a safe space, maybe some of us have been going to the office or have a big comfortable house with a big family.
Some of us had really an hard time, some of us had depression, had people who love taken from them, some of us maybe cryied for the people who died in this war to the virus, some of us had final thoughts about starting in a future after covid.
Someone like me.
And you know what?
I’m not done with the virus, I’m not done being careful and protecting the ones we care and the ones I don’t even know.
But I need to restart my life in some way and the Makerspace it’s part of it.
My proposal it’s simple, Let’s put safety where we can and inform and trust the members, trust that they will follow the rules, trust that if they know they are at risk or they know someone at risk they will not approach the space, trust that if they feel ill they will stay at home and call the 111.
The second wave it’s not coming or coming if the Makerspace reopen or not but maybe the space can be a safety valve for whom is not managing the stress.
The virus is not the only thing that can kill you.
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We’re open for PPE and using this to trial best practice, and get some ideas of what works and what doesn’t. PPE making has been an invaluable outlet for members and other volunteers who’ve been involved, and a definite boost to well-being
We have the bones of a system, and yes it’s been legal for spaces like ours to reopen since Saturday, but being one of the first to close back in March we’re also cautious about rushing into reopening
Opening a volunteer-run space during a pandemic is no small thing – acknowledging that we’re in a lul right now with low infection numbers, but the situation may well change suddenly
Preparing a risk assessment and processes for this is non trivial: the hazards are ~ 5% chance of death and unknown long-term health effects for survivors, and the guidance specific to us is sketchy to say the least, and advised methods to mitigate the hazards are inconsistent
However: we will open for limited leisure making very soon, on an experimental and feedback loop basis
Work is being done to create a booking system that can work with door and tool control. Before that we can use a spreadsheet and manual setting of members permissions. Instead of particular tools members will probably need to book into specific rooms and carry out their activities in that room
There does seem to be some consensus that outdoor activities are considerably safer than indoors, to the extent that there are only a handful of cases of transmission that clearly happened outdoors. To this end we’ve asked our landlord for permission to initially set up two workbenches and a refreshment/sanitiser station outside our arch, with simple rain covers. I’ll chase this up in hopes we could start construction this week
SLMS has convened a meeting tomorrow evening for fellow Hack/Makerspace runners to share and discuss approaches/challenges/experience around reopening during the pandemic. There’s already some excellent plans in place that we are learning from
Anyone want to take a dive in…
The Scottish Govt has come up with well considered guidance
https://www.gov.scot/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-creative-studios-and-shared-workspaces/
Swindon Makerspace
NottingHack
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Are we allowed to talk about the veracity of the covid narrative now?
You can start another thread, no way to preempt how members will react
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Fair enough but there’s several covid-related topics being discussed in this thread
If it’s directly related to the Makerspace re-opening during the pandemic under current regulations and guidance it can go here
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Also itching to have access again, never really got going prior to lockdown as I was working through the necessary inductions, and I bought a bunch of wood just before it closed which has been taking up valuable space in my flat much to my wifes disgust 
Its good to see there are plans in the pipeline to open up again, under cautious guidelines - fine with that. Not sure if I’ve missed it, but Dermot your couple of posts here are the first communication I’ve seen that there are in fact any plans taking place in the background to reopen, prior to this I was really wondering what exactly needs to happen to warrant public access again.
In my opinion, regardless of the public/twitter/media pessimism, the UK as a whole is in a much better position now in terms of testing capability, and general capability to manage this pandemic. The numbers and the trends are all still going in the right direction. Prior to lockdown testing was a shambolic affair, you needed to be dying and likely in hospital to get tested. Now, everyone and their dog can get a test. Mass testing will be key in monitoring trends early and suppressing outbreaks (ie: leicester).
The makerspace is also in a decent state of preparedness compared to many workplaces or other public spaces:
- We have access control and logging systems in place already
- We have booking systems for tools, so it makes sense to extend it to general access to limit numbers at any one time
- If we hear of anyone testing positive, a simple DB query could reveal who should be contacted and informed
In addition, basic safety protocols can easily be implemented:
- Wear a mask on entering
- Tool sharing and disinfecting regimes
- Hand sanitiser at the entrance
- No food in the space
- Keep a good distance between each other
- etc.
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Yes, we have a lot of systems in place, although adapting them for this is taking some work, especially linking shutter/door and tool access with booking, so early days it will be on manual
The major difference from tool booking will be splitting use into workshop occupation, rather than tool use. It’s not going to be ideal, but at first (at least) members will book a workshop/zone and spend their time there, with time in other areas being kept to absolute minimum
The RA we drew up for PPE production still has useful points to make. The risks from fomite (surface) transmission are likely to be considerably lower than we thought back then…but good hygiene is unlikely to go to waste. The risks from aerosol transmission are where we’re putting a lot of our focus: face coverings, ventilation and air purifiers
RA for SLMS PPE production April 2020.pdf (285.0 KB)
On the subject of RAs: unfortunately our legal obligations are not totally clear right now – is it acceptable to have a single overriding ‘COVID-19 RA’, or are revised RAs required for every single tool and activity? Volunteer-run orgs haven’t been given much consideration in the process so far
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hey is the studio open for everyone now ?
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Trust is important in all community projects, but only ever goes so far. Relying on trust almost exclusively is a road to disaster. For instance: the membership trusts each other to clean up after themselves; wash the dishes they use; put tools back in correct places; not take more consumables than they need; not use tools they’re not inducted on; not borrow things from the space without permission; not abuse or break tools through negligence; not to leave projects out in workspaces or in storage without permission, and so on and so on…
Trust is essential but you can’t run anything like the Space on trust alone. And in the case of Covid 19, if people abuse the trust, we’re not risking a broken tool or a messy kitchen – we’re risking the health and perhaps the life of an older or immunocompromised person somewhere that perhaps none of us have even met.
I need to get back in the Space as much as anyone, but I support the directors et al. developing a system for a safe, controlled reopening for general use. I’m willing to wait longer if it means potentially saving lives.
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Hi Enmanuel,
No, the space is not open yet.
The directors are still working on a system that allows us to access the space safely again whilst making sure we keep any potential spread to a minimum. But this involves quite a lot of work as there is very little guidance given by the government.
I am sure we will be back soon but it will be in small steps and definitely take time as we will have to all join in to make it work.
Have a look in the above comments they give you more details in the current situation.
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