Adelaide skills-building centre unveils volunteer auction to fund move into post-pandemic life

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In Innovation

/ Published on 21 February 2022

Makerspace Adelaide Operations Manager Laura Gransbury Makerspace Adelaide, a volunteer-run organisation that equips people, from teens to retirees, to share and build old and new skills, will hold a fundraising auction this Friday, February 25, to fund its post-pandemic life.

At the auction, from 7pm, people will bid for volunteers to undertake projects using equipment at Makerspace Adelaide, ranging from laser cutters and sewing machines to 3D printers and traditional hand tools. One item for auction is access to a smoke ring machine, which normally rents to events such as parties for $500, while another is a Cosmic Ray Detector. Only 50 public tickets are available for the Save Our Makerspace auction. Click here for details.

After two years of planning, Makerspace Adelaide opened the doors of its 700-square-metre premises at 100 Franklin Street, Adelaide, in January 2020 - just weeks before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Australia. Despite lockdowns, social distancing and other COVID concerns, Makerspace Adelaide has attracted more than 1000 people to use its facilities in the two years since. 

This community fabrication workshop provides members with affordable access to a range of tools and equipment and volunteers who help members learn how to use them safely. A strong focus on sustainability includes a textile reuse program to transform old clothing into new items or turning old plastic into 3D filament. 

Makerspace Adelaide Operations Manager Laura Gransbury said the volunteer-run organisation had to leave its current premises because it could not afford to pay commercial rent. “Despite strong community support, we’ve been unable to thread that cashflow needle, so we need to move at the end of March,” she said.

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Gumeracha Hotel’s smart Messenger takeaway ordering service aligns with success

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In Innovation

/ Published on 17 November 2021

Amanda Warren with Vic Ratnieks (centre) and husband Mark at the Gumeracha HotelThe Gumeracha Hotel has won an Australian Hotels Association of SA Award for innovation for its nimble customer-focussed response to the pandemic, assisted by a Facebook Messenger ordering app designed by hungry software developer Vic Ratnieks.

The renovated hotel collected the Excellence award in the ‘Recognition of Adaption & Innovation’ category – along with Crown Inn Kingston and The Playford in Adelaide – which means they will represent SA in the AHA National Awards, to be held in Hobart on February 7 next year.

Gumeracha Hotel owners Mark and Amanda Warren scored the award for their innovative response during the depths of last year’s COVID-19 downturn when trade was decimated by lockdowns and social distancing limits when no one was allowed to go to a pub or dine in. 

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