Bognor Makerspace celebrate new era on back of funding boost

A partnership of charities and social enterprises, Bognor Makerspace opened in October 2020 to create an inclusive new community in the form of a shared makerspace in Bognor, just a two-minute walk from the railway station on Longford Road. Its primary focus is to support people who might have missed out on the chance to develop creative skills. It is designed to be enjoyed by anyone. Parts of the building are available for groups to use for arts & craft, carpentry, construction and even cooking. On the ground floor there are wheelchair-accessible toilets, a carpentry room, a large training kitchen and three workshop spaces. The grant now means that everything to be taken to the next level.

Hilary Strong, at Bognor Makerspace, said: “The support is basically saying ‘Well done with what you are doing! Now go and make it even better!’ We are really excited. We are very lucky that we found the building and that the building is owned by an enterprise company that are really supportive. Reynolds have been great. But the other thing that we've been really lucky with and that is so lovely is that we hadn't realised just how much having a building reassures people. They know where it is and they know that somebody will welcome them and they can just say pop in and say hello. Being on the road all the time before that, you just forget that advantage of having your own building. You just don't realise how much having a building enhances that experience. I'm not really sure that we understood the strength of that beforehand but now more and more people can see what is happening here and are excited by what is happening here.” The Makerspace brings together Making Theatre Gaining Skills and the Aldingbourne Trust: “The grant includes £94,000 to be spent on capital improvements and the balance will support our revenue costs for the next three years. We are all delighted and very grateful to all the lottery ticket buyers that contribute to this fund. The capital funding will be spent on developing the mezzanine floor to provide a large classroom/rehearsal space and four smaller workshops, installing a lift and making some essential improvements on the ground floor and will greatly increase the spaces we have available for the community to use. We anticipate that the development of high-quality workshop facilities will also generate interest from local and regional creative industries.” The grant will also mean new staff: a makerspace manager, a deputy manager and a mental health practitioner (p/t). “We found the premises in the summer of 2020. Until then all our kit had been in storage and everything had come to a halt and then we found this building owned by Reynolds. It was a furniture showroom. Originally it was a warehouse so it did have some facilities already but basically it was a blank canvas we could use and so wonderfully close to the centre of Bognor. We just thought that we had to take it on. It was madness really but the Aldingbourne Trust had similar experience which was a big help and gave us confidence.”