The following ventures exist under the umbrella company of Scavenger Labs C.I.C. They share a common ethos of a community-driven, ethical and sustainable approach to education and technology.
Noisy Toys
Noisy Toys was founded by Steve Summers in 2007 as an educational service to combine aspects of science with music and creativity; learning through ‘hands-on’ activities. http://noisytoys.org
Noisy Toys provide interactive installations, educational activities and stage shows for schools and events all over the country. Steve is a musician, artist and performer who specialises in upcycled instruments. He has tested thousands of noses all over the country, butchered hundreds of computers and spawned many strange new instruments.
JAMM Labs
Our most recent project is called JAMM Labs, it’s a new venture with a focus on media production, game making and old-school website skills. The focus in on using Free Software, a community approach, and a project-based approach to learning.
JAMM Labs works with both adults and children and takes an intergenerational approach to learning when possible.
Lead: Mick Chesterman
FLOSS Manuals
The FLOSS Manuals venture provides a home to many manuals of free and open source software (FLOSS). These manuals have been created collectively via a large online community, and via collaborative writing events called Booksprints.
While the project is much less active than it has been, the existing manuals continue to be a valuable resources for educators using FLOSS software and collaborative processes especially in the area of low cost digital production.
Todmorden Makery
Todmorden Makery is a community workshop focused on repair and creative making activities, with areas dedicated to textiles, electronics repairs, wood working, a tool library and bike repair. The founding focus of the project was on skill sharing and a community response to issues of waste through repair and informal education.
The Makery was founded my Scavenger Labs director Mick Chesterman and Scavenger Labs was the financial vehicle for funding applications.
The setting up of Todmorden Makery stemmed from our #iwill social action project.