Category Archive News

Hello @members,

Today, the UK government advice regarding Covid-19 has been updated. It now states:

• Now is the time for everyone to stop non-essential contact with others
• You should avoid pubs, clubs, theatres and other such social venues

Accordingly, we will be closing the Makerspace as soon as possible. Please note the key details of the closure process:

• No further making of any sort is to happen at the Makerspace from now.
• Access to collect any personal possessions will be possible until 10pm on Tuesday 17th March. You should plan to spend as little time as possible in the space – not more than 10 minutes.
• At 10pm on Tuesday 17th March, the Makerspace will be physically closed – members will no longer be able to access the space until further notice.
• We do not know how long the Makerspace will remain closed – however, we anticipate it will be for at least 2 weeks. This will be reviewed regularly by the Directors, following UK Government advice.

Whilst the physical space will be closed, our community continues on Discourse – so please do join the discussions. Hopefully many of you will be able to continue making at home during this period – you might find an idea for a new make on Discourse or be able to share your own tips and suggestions!

Once we know how long the space needs to remain closed, we will discuss the issue of membership subs with all members. For now, subs will continue to be taken by Direct Debit – the space may be closed, but most of our major costs (such as rent and business rates) still need to be paid. As ever, if you are in financial hardship please contact the Directors and we can discuss an alternative arrangement.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to the Directors.
At this difficult time, please take care of yourselves and your loved ones.

Thank you,

The Directors

The South London Makerspace Directors have been in close contact over the last few days to try and formulate plans for our response to potential Covid 19 derived issues.

Covid 19 is a new type of virus so is unpredictable, we are taking advice both from NHS England and World Health Organisation (WHO). We are also receiving advice from the City of London response committees.

Unfortunately at this time, for an organisation like ours, the advice is unclear and changing hour by hour.

As directors, we have a duty to look at any given situation and to do what we believe at the time is best for the membership.

At this time, our response is as follows :-

This is Your community, please work with us to keep it safe by following the enclosed guidance.

1.  Any member who has been requested to self-isolate due to possible contact with a Covid 19 carrier are requested to stay away from the space until further notice
2. If you have been in the space in the last 14 days and you are diagnosed with or suspected to have Covid 19 you must inform the directors immediately
3. No Guests in the space until further notice – Open evenings will be cancelled until further notice
4. Any member who is showing Any flu or cold like symptoms is requested to stay away from the space until they are given a medical all clear or for 14 days from the end of the illness.
5. Any member who is immunocompromised, has a family member who is immunocompromised or is under any kind of treatment that may weaken immunity is requested to stay away until further notice – Members who are in regular close contact with older relatives should decide if this includes them.
6. Organisers of events, evenings and gatherings are requested to stand down these events until further notice
7. Numbers in the space should be limited so that you can easily stay a good arm’s length apart. This is especially true for the woodshop where people tend to work in close proximity
8. Hygiene is of upper most importance. Please wash your hands on arrival at the space. Please wash up after yourself, do not share face masks, equipment or cutlery without properly sanitising it
9. Please keep surfaces clean, wipe down surfaces before and after you use them (including benches and laser external hard surfaces) – there is cleaner at the sinks and plenty of blue roll for this use
10. The Directors reserve the right, without notice, to close the space for an undetermined amount of time if we are requested to do so by any authority or if we believe the risk becomes too high to safely continue.

Many Thanks for your continued support and please work with us to keep SLMS safe by following the above.

Dear Members,

The UK Chief Medical Officers have raised the risk from coronavirus (COVID-19) to the public from low to moderate.

It matters to us that South London Makerspace is a safe space for everyone involved.

This note provides advice on coronavirus (COVID-19) and what steps you could take to help keep everyone safe.

For the latest information on coronavirus and how it affects you and your space or event, please check the website of your local public health organisation.

For London, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ 1

These organisations regularly update their websites and are your most up-to-date source of information. We strongly encourage you to defer to the advice on these websites.

If you are unsure about anything, please consult the Directors (@directors on discourse or directors@southlondonmakerspace.org on email) and we will try to assist

The main risk to people with the virus is from public gatherings and people in close proximity. Due to the nature of the building and the ventilation etc, the space remains a low risk if we observe some basic measures.

While in the space, please observe good basic hygiene, wash your hands regularly, don’t share dust masks, take care while preparing food and store it in sealed containers, wash up your plate/cutlery/mug/pan etc AS SOON AS YOU’VE USED THEM with hot water and washing liquid and keep the place clean and tidy.

For planned sessions (Like the Thursday Electronics Club or Music Night), use common sense.

If, having checked your local public health advice and/or consulted the Techs/Directors, you feel that it is right to cancel a session or other event, you should do so. (you do not need to contact the Directors before making that decision, Tech or organisers can and should do this themselves if they feel the need)

If you decide to go ahead with your session or event, then you should consider taking the following actions:

1. Advise participants that they should not attend the session or event if they are feeling unwell
2. Encourage all attendees to adopt good hygiene practices
3. Check below and your local public health organisation’s website if participants have for example travelled to an affected area or been in close contact with someone who has been diagnosed with coronavirus.

The World Health Organisation’s website is a good starting point for finding information and advice about this. We strongly advise you not to try to provide public health advice yourself.

If a person feels unwell while in the space, please ask if they require medical help from 111 or (999 if you are worried about their condition), isolate them in one area and inform other members in the space.

We request that you don’t come to the space if you are in any way unwell, if you’ve recently travelled to the UK from somewhere with a higher risk of coronavirus or have been in contact with someone who has.

These places are (as of 5th March 2020):

• Cambodia
• China
• Hong Kong
• Iran
• Italy – only northern Italy (anywhere north of Pisa, Florence and Rimini)
• Japan
• Laos
• Macau
• Malaysia
• Myanmar (Burma)
• Singapore
• South Korea
• Taiwan
• Tenerife
• Thailand
• Vietnam

Please contact us if you have any questions, and remember to regularly check your local public health organisation’s website for coronavirus updates.

Directors

Today, South London Makerspace will join a host of cultural organisations by declaring climate emergency. As the accelerating impacts of climate change become increasingly evident it is vital that we face the truth, demand action, support each other and express solidarity with affected communities.

Our declaration follows:

We South London Makerspace declare a Climate and Ecological Emergency

Since October 2014 South London Makerspace (SLMS) has been supporting a wide range of physical and digital making for makers of all backgrounds and abilities. We do this both in our online forum and physical space. As a volunteer-run workshop we encourage members to jump in a get making in everything from 3d Printing to screenprinting, lasercutting to woodturning and much besides and inbetween. Our underlying aim is ‘lowering the barriers to making’ through principles of skill sharing, inclusion and collaboration. The only qualification is an enthusiasm to make things

We are living through a period of growing awareness about the severity and speed and social and environmental challenges caused by unsustainable growth, climate change and resource insecurity. In October 2018 the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reported that we have only 12 years to make ‘urgent and unprecedented changes’ necessary to limit climate warming to 1.5 percent and avoid extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty.

Our planet is our only home, and to limit damage and develop resilience as the climate changes will require the engagement of individuals, organisations and nations on a global scale, with each contributing according to its attributes and abilities. There is increasing interest in the potential for museums and cultural organisations (encompassing arts, science, heritage & place) to catalyse civic engagement and place-based activism in this frame.

SLMS pledges to work with and support our community of makers, working with other cultural organisations and agencies, in understanding and tackling this Emergency.

These are our intentions:

1. We will tell the Truth

Governments, and their public broadcasters and cultural agencies, must tell the truth about the Climate and Ecological Emergency, reverse inconsistent policies and communicate the urgency for far-reaching systemic change.

• We will communicate with our community of practice and support them to discover and share the truth about the Emergency and the changes that are needed.

1. We will take Action

Governments must enact legally binding policy measures to reduce emissions to net zero by 2025 and to reduce consumption levels.

• We pledge to work towards reducing our emissions to net zero by 2025.
• We will challenge policies and actions of local and national governments and their agencies, where we interact with them, that do not help to reduce emissions or consumption levels.
• We will actively work to imagine and model ways that we and the organisations in our community of practice can regenerate the planet’s resources.

1. We are committed to Justice

The emergency has arisen from deeply systemic injustices. Arts and Culture can imagine and forge shifts in the ways we relate to one another and the world, in our values and behaviours.

• We will do what is possible to enable dialogue and expression amidst and beyond our community of practice about how the Emergency will affect them and the changes that are needed.
• We will work to encourage new democratic models within civic institutions and government.
• We believe that all truth-telling, action and democratic work must be underpinned by a commitment to social and environmental justice.

Declaration ends.

Find out more about Culture Declares Emergency

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