The history

Make Monmouth was setup by one of our co-founders because he was fed up with being the “only geek in Monmouth” as far as he knew.

A lack of suitable jobs in the immediate Monmouth area meant he was travelling to Worcester, Cardiff, Bristol, or even working away during the week in London, preventing him from having a social life in the area.

It started with a Facebook Group and a rant about the future of the town, then became a meeting at a local restaurant, and from there we discovered our home at Woodland Stores .

Throughout 2018 and 2019 we had a very casual approach to it all - we met up twice a month, people paid what they could afford, and we usually covered the amount needed to pay for the space during those few hours we were open. Then COVID-19 struck, and we were all locked down.

Unlike many other groups that were able to move online and keep the momentum going, we really struggled. A number of our members didn’t want to take part in “yet another zoom call” after a day of other video calls, and demonstrating what a robot can do via a video chat really isn’t the same as when you meet in person.

What this time did give us, however, was a determination to ensure Make Monmouth could recover from lockdown and continue to build as an inclusive, welcoming space for the entire local community to come and work on their projects with likeminded people.

In 2021, whilst lockdowns were still in place, we took the decision to incorporate as a not-for-profit Community Interest Company, with a board of directors who would work on an entirely voluntary basis.

As the world started to open up again, we also started to hold meetings, but this time with a proper rental agreement in place, a bank account, and insurance!

In the past 6 months, we’ve seen our membership grow from our four directors to 10 paying members with many others coming along to our free Open Night on a regular basis. Our facebook group nows has over 350 members, and is growing all the time.

Although we were originally setup for the people of Monmouth, our members are driving (don’t get us started on the lack of public transport in the area!) from as far as Malvern and the Forest of Dean to take advantage of the space, so we know that there’s plenty of need for us to continue growing and providing access to tools, training, and workshops that the community would otherwise be unable to use in the coming years!

To learn more about our dreams for the future, visit our aims and objectives .