hpr-knowledge-base/hpr_transcripts/hpr2626.txt

Episode: 2626
Title: HPR2626: Liverpool Makefest 2018 - interviews with Helen and Chris
Source: https://hub.hackerpublicradio.org/ccdn.php?filename=/eps/hpr2626/hpr2626.mp3
Transcribed: 2025-10-19 06:44:07

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So this is Tony Hughes for Hacker Public Radio. Still at Liverpool Maker Fest and I've got with me.
Ellen Pierce from Manchester Hackspace.
So Ellen would you tell us a little bit about what Manchester Hackspace is doing?
Certainly it's a today we are mainly here promoting our PCBs but generally the Manchester Hackspace is a community public service that enables people for a very small donation.
They can come in and do any kind of projects they like and have access to things that they wouldn't normally afford if they were having to buy them themselves.
It's basically like a giant workshop with everything you need plus friends to help you every step of the way.
So what kind of equipment have you got?
Laser cutter, two 3D printers, metal working lathe, a metal workshop, a fully equipped wood workshop.
We also have various computers, electronic station, we have clubs that go on every other week.
Mine is an obscure film one in cinema obscura but we also have board games nights and we also have various other activities going on throughout the year.
Do you do any special events for women?
Well we're thinking of starting one. We have had in the pipeline a few women's code groups and women's craft groups.
And me and one of my fellow Hackspace members are actually thinking of putting one forward at the moment.
So that could be a future thing that you aim specifically at the female community of makers and hackers out there.
Oh definitely because I do believe that female makers and hackers are underrepresented.
I myself am a female hacker, I do me on jewelry, I have to recycle computer parts.
And the amount of times I've gone, what's this? And there's been no other women there, it's all men. It's like hello.
Yeah that sounds really interesting. You talk about making things out of old computer parts. What are you making?
I make necklaces, bracelets out of recycles, keyboard caps, flash drives, circuit board components, heat sinks, if it looks gorgeous I'll stick it on a chain.
Because the most common one I've seen is old spinning hard drives turned into clocks and things like that, but that sounds a little bit more ambitious.
Thank you very much. I'm currently putting LEDs in some projects too.
Would you tell us how the listeners could get in touch with Manchester Hackspace?
Certainly if they go on Manchester.org, they could also get in touch with us on Twitter through via Manchester Hackspace.
And we also have a Facebook group as well. We also have every Wednesday, we have an opening evening where people can come around, have a look at the event, you know, have a look at the area completely free of charge, come into the space.
We get a personal guided tour and you also get to a good discussion about whether it's suitable for what you require.
Because quite a lot of people actually are small business owners and they make their things in the Hackspace, take them off and sell them.
And that is absolutely fine with us. I also personally do guided tours on evenings and weekends for people that can't make it on Wednesday.
So where exactly in Manchester are you?
We are in Pollard Street East, a place called Wellington House. You'll notice a blue door and if you ring the telephone number on the front of the blue door, somebody on a Wednesday night between the hours of six and ten will come down and answer the door, bring you up, show you around and discuss your needs.
That's fantastic. Thanks very much.
You're very welcome. Thank you very much.
Thank you. So this Tony Hughes still at Liverpool Maker Fest and I've got with me.
Christopher Connan and I am from Whirl Co Club.
So can you tell us what co clubs are all about?
So co club is all about teaching children, how to code, whether that's mostly scratch, but we also bring other things in such as micro bit.
And our co club is actually branching out into 3D printing.
So you'll be coming a bit of a maker space as well?
Yeah, I think so. Yeah. I mean, to be honest, it's using my 3D printer, which was bought from Aldi, so it likes to mush into the plastic and break a few times.
So it does take about an hour or so to print one thing.
So we're definitely at the experiment sort of time at that.
But that also brings in the coding of all the software to get your rights, slices and things like that.
So you teaching the coding and then the final product at the end?
So what it is is, so just like scratch, where you drag and drop things in from left to right.
And then the micro bit, we drag and drop stiff in from left to right again.
So we use a piece of software in browser because we are based in a policy central library mostly and also back in a central library.
So we can't install things on. We use the, just use Firefox and Chrome.
We actually use a website called BlocksCAD3D and it's once again just dragging and dropping bit to code over.
And it just plots it onto a grid and they can produce cubes with the name on it.
So that's basically the sort of thing that's what we're doing with 3D printing.
But it's still teaching, coding and what the application can actually do for.
Exactly, so this is rather than making a game, we can actually...
Public service announcement?
So as I was saying, yeah, we, it's not just you've got a game on a screen with scratch or something that you can look about with on micro bit.
This is actually the next stage, something that you can physically keep.
And it's also brings together, especially with this BlocksCAD3D we've been using, things that you learn in maths and school, such as tessellation, plotting on a graph.
So, you know, one thing that I always make a point off, especially with scratch as well, which way is X and which way is Y on a grid?
Because even I get it mixed up sometimes.
And then you find out you've got it mixed up because it goes the wrong way.
So, have you got your own website?
Yeah, you can search for somewhere or code club.
I think it's www.wheelcodeclub.org and then you've also got Twitter.
If you search for something on Twitter, you can search for something on Facebook.
They're more up to date with whenever we're on, you know, giving us 10 dates and stuff so we run during the school terms.
And obviously a lot of the resources are on the code club national website as well.
Yes, so we use the code club website resources that are provided by Raspberry Pi Foundation.
We've also got half dozen or so micro bits that can be given out to children on the day they can mess about with that.
And also, if you actually come to Whirl libraries,
Whirl libraries have actually got in a supply of micro bits that you can actually lend out.
They can loan for about two to three weeks.
So if a child comes, please rock paper scissors in code club that the design created.
We can say to the parents and the child, you know, you can carry on at home because all the software is just in browser and all the projects are there online.
So you can take a home and have a look about the two weeks and you might actually do better because code club is only an hour.
It's like, you know, going to the gym or something like that, you know, it's something to do for an hour that you just focus on.
But if you've got the time, the willingness, inclination, whatever to actually do further, you know, we can help you and the library will help you.
And with the school holidays coming up, that's ideal, isn't it?
Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
So we're just thinking of our plans, what to do over the school holidays.
We might run one session a week because we do get a lot of homeschool children coming as well because we are in a library and they're looking for stuff to do.
Well, education opportunities. So we've got at least three different families that are homeschooled to come in.
All right. That's cool. Well, thank you very much.
Yeah. It's been a pleasure.
All right. Thanks.
All right.
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