Hi, this is Anabelle from Gather and Hundred House Coffee.

Hundred House Coffee has been running since 2016 – we’re a small, micro roastery supporting the arts through industry. You can find out a lot more about us on our website.

Supporting the arts through industry was a founding principle of Hundred House Coffee. Weaving in the non-profit to our day-to-day activities is something that came instinctively and to which we are committed. As the business has grown, we have been looking to start a new project that is self-sustaining but involves the community – and this is where Gather comes in.

We take community concerns seriously and would really like this project to be something Ludlow can be proud of and celebrate on a site that is much loved and holds a lot of personal history for residents. On a site that was originally a school for the workshouse and then a maternity ward that is greatly missed, we want to ensure we run a respectful, community led, educationally driven project that really brings something original and contemporary to Ludlow.

The project is source funded by Hundred House Coffee and Gather is intended as a cowork Monday to Friday, 8am-5pm with workshops, low key events and programming evenings and weekends. We would like the project to be self-sufficient to secure its future. We will be applying for funding for certain activities – for example, an open source kiln. We have a 10-year lease and would like to create something that lasts and serves the community long term, that remains in touch with the next generation and creative community needs. Our primary activities during Monday to Friday working hours is a cowork - ie a shared office.

We ourselves are fine art graduates and I have an MA in Creative Writing from the Royal College of Art. We saw a gap in provisions and support for creative development and practice. Through Gather we are providing a space for production and productivity that currently does not exist.

The workshops in particular will be run by and aimed at local makers and producers but there will also be a series for school age participants. They will be very varied, covering a few different creative practices from ceramics through to horticulture. Events will be led by local makers and members and will include artists talks, book clubs (for children and adults) and film clubs.

We do not have a bar installed, in fact all the furniture is flexible and movable. We are not opening a coffee shop or a bar. We have applied for a license that is flexible to respond to different kinds of events where the consumption of alcohol is not a priority. As a contemporary space, similar to other maker spaces and coworking communities around the world, having a license allows us to be flexible around this programming and to raise additional funds to support non-profit programming. Coworking is as much about building a community around you as it is about having a desk and cost-effective facilities to use. A drink after work is something we see happening on occasion – especially alongside a talk or networking session led by one of our members, for example. It’s not about drinking and working irresponsibly, it’s about community building for freelancers and the ability to build programming and networking around their interests and those of the closer community. The reason ‘films’ needed to be listed is because even a small but public film club requires a license – we are not opening a cinema, we have an analogue animation studio as part of the building.

The spaces are not very big and we cannot fit more than 20-25 people at a time in each. The majority of people using the space will be members, though the events and workshops will be open to the wider community. On our planning application we state 50 people as that is the maximum we can have coworking at any one time - but that would be a squeeze! We really hope to be able to fund a couple of places on each workshop to support those who are looking to broaden their horizons and learn new skills but do not have the funds to do so. As a local producer we want to support other local producers and we would like people to be able to pick up their boxes of produce from the site – this may include local breweries and distillers. This really helps local producers in terms of time and costs and is also much better for the environment. Lastly, as a roastery we’ve collaborated with breweries with our coffee, and anyone ordering their coffee beans and possibly a coffee stout for example, will buy and then pick up to take home. The off-license sales will be from 8am-5.30pm.

We have been open and honest about all our intentions and have been public about them at every step. We want to hear from the community with any concerns – we are more than happy to meet or chat online to discuss them in more detail. We have taken advice and guidance to ensure we do not do anything that is unregulated, unsafe, or could get in any way out of hand and affect our neighbours.