Important Announcement- Our First Space!

One year on… we have a space!

11 months ago a message was sent to the GeekUp mailing list:

“For some time now Leeds has been in need of a proper hacker space. The number of hacking groups has increased significantly over recent years with meetings like GeekUp and opencoffee. In the last few months hackspaces have began forming around the UK in London, Birmingham and the North West…”

There was a real groundswell of support from the Leeds tech community. With fund raising from events and general persistence from our members we’ve formed a cohesive organisation and raised enough to fund our first venue. Whilst it isn’t huge or central it is definitely affordable and perfect for hacking, making, crafting and sciencing.

Allow me to introduce to you Leeds’ new hack space!

Venue

The venue is a two-storey office/workshop unit located in Holbeck toward Elland Road with (limited) parking space and easy access by bus and car. The ground floor is an open plan double garage which is more than big enough to house vehicles, work benches and life-sized robots. Upstairs we have office space enough for desks, servers, white boards and bean bags, as well as kitchen and WC facilities.

Location & Access

Cleveleys Street
Holbeck
LS11 0AF

It’s a short bus ride on the 51, 61, 64A, 74A, or 254 from town (Vicar Lane), and you want to be getting off at Holbeck Top Moor Side.

View of the space 1
View of the space 2
Workshop (before the tidy)
Office

Next steps

Whilst we have been able to afford the deposit and have some kit in storage, the hack space group still needs your help to prepare and maintain the venue. We welcome all donations of cash, furniture, tools and materials. Please get in touch if you are able to help. Now that our bank is setting up an account for us we will soon be able to start takingdonations and recurring membership fees directly. The fees will be discussed at the next hack space meet-ups, so if you have an opinion then please be in attendance or contact us directly via email or the mailing list to have your voice heard.

Access and events

It has always been our intention to host events at the space. For now we will hold small workshops, skill sharing sessions and open days. We will make use of the space as much as possible, with events and access to be arranged by hack space members.

Ambitions

We don’t just have a venue now. We also have a plan…

1. Get creating

We have a venue. We have an group of brilliant and enthusiastic makers. Now all we need is the kit and then we will run workshops and pursue interesting projects. We have no shortage of project ideas and curious hackers, so this summer will be all about no-holds-barred making and hacking.

2. Get promoting

This venue is nothing without it’s members. We want to encourage more people to join in, and what better way to do this than showcasing what we do? We will:

• revamp the website into a more cohesive community portal
• take time to showcase our projects at events and online
• encourage healthy rivalry with other hacker spaces elsewhere in the UK and throughout the world

3. Get bigger
We’re not being complacent. We’re already planning for a second space where we can do more things. Leeds’ geek/tech community is huge and growing, but with limited venues of any use. With increased interest, larger membership and deeper pockets we intend to host a city centre venue within 2 years which will cater perfectly for co-working and community events.

So we encourage you all to get involved. Come along to meetings, visit the space, get enthusiastic and make things.

It’s going to be an amazing summer :D