Community

There are a lot of interesting activities and related groups/companies in the area that may be of interest in creating and strengthening our maker community. Who would benefit from us sharing?

Richmond: Silicon-upon-Thames

Richmond has seen a variety of international tech organisations move to the area due to its proximity to London and Heathrow, quality of facilities and resources. We've seen some announcements proclaiming that Richmond and the term 'Silicon-upon-Thames' is the West London response to the Silicon Roundabout in Shoreditch.

In addition, it's good to note that the Mayor of Richmond Councillor Martin Seymour has a background in technology, having served as a head of Information Technology for two multinational companies. No, we're not trying to turn Richmond into some sort of Shenzhen or replace community charm with hipster tech buildings, but at least we can make RML an active part of the Silicon-upon-Thames name.

• Article Evening Standard:Why tech titans eBay and PayPal are trading Old Street for the leafy joy of Richmond
• Corporate Real Estate Blog Richmond - will it become the new Silicon Roundabout?

Corporate Social Responsibility

A lot of progressive technology companies have CSR charters that reflect commitments to the communities - sharing innovation, donating surplus equipment, volunteering and donating time and effort into local community spaces such as RML. This is an approach that has not been leveraged by many hackerspace/makerspace communities and should be leveraged - having a good balance of community and corporate involvement would mean that all parties benefit from this kind of relationship.

Nearby Science, Tech and Innovation Organisations with CSR Mandates

• Cisco, Bedfont Lakes Cisco's Global CSR Blog
• IBM, Bedfont Lakes IBM's Global CSR
• SAP UK, Bedfont Lakes SAP's Global CSR
• EMC UK, Brentford EMC's Global CSR
• GSK, Brentford GSK's Global CSR
• Sky, Osterley Sky's Global CSR
• PayPal, Richmond PayPal's Giving Fund as part of their CSR remit
• eBay, Richmond eBay's Global CSR Teams in action
• National Physical Laboratory, Teddington CSR
• Nikon Instruments UK, Kingston Global CSR
• Northrop Grumman (Sperry Marine), New Malden Global CSR

Nearby Tech and Innovation Companies

These companies may not be large enough to have explicit CSR mandates but reflect a spirit of innovation (dedicated R&D, historical community involvement):

• Amparo Tech supports RML, Restart Project and other similar charities
• Brompton Bicycles Ltd, Brentford About Us
• Not on the High Street, Richmond About Us

Community Grants & Related Regional Groups

There are other ways to help build a thriving makerspace. This also includes getting grants from nationwide and local institutions believing in causes such as ours.

• Big Lottery Fund - Awards for all have been used by amateur radio clubs to procure radios/equipment for training and demonstrating amateur radio. Restrictions such as dual-signature accounts to prevent misuse of funds applies.
• Mayor of London High Street Fund was used to establish the South London Makerspace
• Tudor Trust is also a potential group that might find value in funding a maker-space.
• Esmee Fairbarn would categorise our group into 'social change: revitalising community life'
• Lankelly Chase might consider our case (or of HUG) to improve the community and the disadvantaged.

Regional Groups and Nearby Innovating and Social Organisations

• Richmond Council and their associated news section which we should correspond with
• Cambrian Community centre Computers, and tablets
• Ham United Group - our 'sponsor' community group - improving and enhancing the environment and the quality of life for the community in Ham and Petersham as well as supporting those charitable purposes and activities in the area.
• Richmond Society - similar group to HUG focused on making and keeping Richmond a good place in which to live, work and visit
• Kingston Council
• Teddington and Ham Hydro - developing hydroelectric power on the Thames
• Petersham and Ham Sea Scouts - one of the oldest Scout group in existance.
• Richmond-upon-Thames Scouts - covering 2000 young people
• Girl Guiding Greater London West County - similar organisation covering Richmond
• South West London Environment Network
• Kingston Voluntary Action - supporting voluntary and community organisations
• The Restart Project - London-based social enterprise encouraging people to use their electronics longer, by sharing repair and maintenance skills.
• Demand Energy Equality - doing practical energy workshops, collaborative public engagement projects, consultancy work and participation in the the movement for energy transformation and democracy.
• WimbleTech - Working with local Councils to transform under-utilised space in public libraries, into sustainable, affordable, co-working and community hubs.
• Amparo tech Local IT support company with forum to help individuals for free.
• Grey Hat Foundation local reps will take IT equipment from us to help others that need it.

Nearby Maker/Hack/innovation spaces

• CoderDojoHam is an open source, volunteer-led global movement running free coding clubs for youngsters.
• Hack Wimbledon pop-up hackspace in nearby Wimbledon
• West London hackspace new hackspace currently around the Ealing area
• South London Makerspace in Herne Hill has been around since late 2014
• London Hackspace is not exactly near, but is the largest hacker-space of its kind in the world
• Surrey & Hampshire Hackspace - meeting regularly at The Warehouse in Farnborough

Suppliers

Richmond-specific supplier listing is a WIP.

There is a great list on the London Hackspace Wiki.

Getting Involved

Firms and individuals don't need to be huge to make an impact for creating and teaching in the 'new technology arts' - this page is just a small start to get people thinking about these things.