We Can Make

20/01/2026

19/01/2026

Keen carpenter? Determined DIYer? Top-notch tinkerer? Join us at our Neighbourhood Meet Up to tell us what you're making in 2026!

WeCanMake will share our intentions for what we'll be making together this coming year, and how you can be part of it. We'll also have a shared meal (which you can help us make!), and a chance to connect with the wider community.

Our meet ups are family-friendly and free – all are welcome*.

🍝 Make gnocchi (pasta) from scratch!
🌱 Hear WeCanMake’s plans for 2026
🙌 Connect with your neighbours and the wider community
🔨 Tell us what you're making this year

5-7.30pm @ U24 Filwood Green Business Park, BS4 1ET

*Please sign up here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/wecanmake-january-meet-up-tickets-1977495029867?aff=oddtdtcreator

08/12/2025

Join us to weave some love for John Bennett 🪡🧵
2-6pm Friday 12th December
The Factory, Unit 24, Filwood Green Business Park

⚠️ Content warning: death, illness, grief

Many people in our community will know the all-round brilliant human being that is John Bennett; and will also know that he is terminally ill.

John is still very much alive and long may this continue! But as part of preparing for his passing from this life, we are helping to make the shroud for his natural burial. John’s cocoon (what would traditionally be a coffin) is made from locally sourced natural materials - the work of artist Yuli Somme and lots of Dartmoor sheep! It has a colourful cover that is being woven with stories, images, songs, and emblems from a life that has been richly and brightly lived.

This is an invitation to John’s friends, neighbours, and colleagues help make the cover by adding something that represents what John means to you. The cover is intended as a joyful celebration and act of solidarity with John. It is a comfort to both John and his family that he will be wrapped in this blanket of love for his final journey.

🚲 Maybe John taught you how to ride or fix a bike?
🔨 Taught you construction skills?
🕺 Or maybe you danced with him at one of his many favourite clubs or festivals?
Come and add your tall tale or special memory.

For us at WeCanMake, John is one of our most precious community members. He is one of the pioneering first residents of our community-led homes. John helped design, fabricate, and build his home, and taught us a whole bunch of stuff along the way – and not just construction skills.
Generosity. Ingenuity. Tenacity.

John’s DNA is at the heart of WeCanMake, and it will long continue to beat with his rhythm and soul.

🧵 Please join us for an open drop-in making session 2-6pm on Friday 12th December at The Factory, Unit 24, Filwood Green Business Park. There will be a warm welcome and plenty of tea and cake.

24/11/2025

Bristol’s cultural sector generated £892.9 million in economic impact in 2023/24 alone. Culture is not a 'nice-to-have'. It drives jobs, skills, wellbeing and community across the city.

Bristol City Council invests just 0.1% of its budget in independent culture - a small but vital amount that supports the grassroots organisations who create opportunities and champion local talent.

⚠️ Many cultural organisations are now facing the possibility that this funding may be cut altogether.

For nearly 30 years, KWMC has worked alongside people in Knowle West and across Bristol to hold space for creativity, learning and social change. We’ve seen first-hand how investment in local culture strengthens a city and how quickly opportunities disappear when that investment is withdrawn.

We urge Bristol City Council to protect and sustain cultural funding. Culture is not a luxury. It is the lifeblood of our communities, our economy and our shared future.

What can you do?

💚 Sign/share the open letter (only takes a few seconds): tinyurl.com/protect-culture

💚 Fill in the Council’s survey responding to their budget by Wed 26th Nov. Proposal to cut Cultural Investment Programme is Q17. Skip as many Qs as you like: smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Budget-2026-27

💚 Write to your Councillor to describe the value of the cultural sector to your life, your community, your business, the city. Useful template: tinyurl.com/letter-councillor

30/09/2025

We've still got places available on our NATURAL MATERIAL CONSTRUCTION workshop on Friday and Saturday at Springfield Community Allotment.

The workshop offers practical techniques for using straw bales to insulate existing buildings. The workshop will cover the basics of using straw bales as a building material, focusing on methods appropriate for external wall insulation. Participants will learn the basics of working with straw bale, with plenty of opportunities for exploring more natural building techniques.

Local residents are eligible for a free spot: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/straw-bale-construction-live-build-workshop-tickets-1664168044419?aff=oddtdtcreator

We are more Springfield

03/09/2025

📢Hello everyone, a callout for some help!📢
HELP US SHOVEL GRAVEL TOMORROW AT Springfield Community Allotment

We've started work on our site at Springfield Community Allotment where we'll be building two huts for community use after a research project.

We've had a BIG delivery of some gravel for the foundations which we'd love some help shovelling into the pits that are dug.

If you are comfortable using a shovel and wheelbarrow and are available to help shovel gravel tomorrow with us, we would LOVE your help and can provide tea, biscuits and good vibes in return! Please comment or message if you can help and we'll provide more information 🙏🏽 THANKYOU!

02/09/2025

Over July and August, WeCanMake came together with residents to hold a series of workshops on our community-led site on Rodfords Mead in Hengrove, where we got together to explore local biomaterials and re-use materials to design, prototype, create and build together.

At this event later this month, we'll be celebrating the Making Together Summer Programme with a photo exhibition and hands-on activities, as well as a shared meal. We'll also be sharing an update about the planning application for the Rodfords Mead site - a mix of six homes and community space for the neighbourhood, designed in collaboration with local residents.

Find out more and book your spot here! https://making-together-celebration.eventbrite.co.uk

11/08/2025

Our next neighbourhood meetup is next week and we can't wait to see you all 🥳

What: South Asian Heritage Month Community Meetup at WeCanMake
When: Thursday 21st August, 5pm - 7.30pm
Where: The Factory, Unit 24 Filwood Green Business Park, Bristol BS4 1ET

Join us for this special event where we’ll be celebrating South Asian Heritage Month, and the crafts, values and practices from across the region!

🗣️ Hear about South Asian approaches to design and more about WeCanMake and our work to the power, skills and resources to create good homes into the hands of our community!
🪑 Have a go at weaving a Charpai, a type of cot or bench (also called Charpaya, Charpoy, Khat, Khatla, Manja, or Manji).
🙌 DIY henna tattoos
🥗 Share South Asian food and connect with others
This event is free and family friendly!
Book here:

Celebrate South Asian Heritage Month and the crafts, values and practices from across the region that align with our work at WeCanMake.

10/07/2025

Our July neighbourhood meet up is happening next Thursday! Join us from 5-7.30pm at The Factory to hear about community power, get hands-on with mini solar kits, and meet others in the community.

Book here 👉 https://wcm-july-meetup.eventbrite.co.uk

Knowle West Media Centre Knowle West Alliance

Get hands-on with solar power kits, learn more about community power generation, and find out how to reduce energy consumption at home.

01/07/2025

Join our Making Together summer programme! WeCanMake is excited to be hosting 3 workshops where we will be working with natural and re-use materials to design, prototype, create and build together.

We invite you to register your interest to join us to get hands on, making furniture, green infrastructure and structures together throughout July, August and September.

Register your interest here: https://wecanmake.notion.site/making-together-summer-programme?pvs=74

19/06/2025

Are you coming along to our Neighbourhood Meet Up tonight?

Come to The Factory* from 5-7.30 for food, making, talks and workshops!

https://wmc-june-meetup.eventbrite.co.uk

We look forward to seeing you there!

*The Factory, U24 Filwood Green Business Park, BS4 1ET

Explore the factory and natural materials, make together, and hear about our new MultiMax research

16/05/2025

Welcome to the 2025 Re-Use Doorknocker Championship!! Rummage through “waste”, off-cuts of natural material, scraps from , and get creative!

Critiqued by our esteemed Judge John on three criteria - loudness of knock, creative use of materials, and flamboyance - there was stiff competition for this inaugural event. After the final rush to assemble the last nuts n bolts, it was time for competitors to reveal their knockers…

After testing each knocker, Judge John called joint winners to share a beautiful trophy - hand crafted from Very Useful Waste.

We also heard from Circular Economy Guru Debbie Ward ( / ), and celebrated the Neighbourhood Trade School class of ‘25. Thanks so much to all who came along to our monthly neighbourhood meet up/annual Re-Use Knocker Championship! See you next year/month!!

Register for our next round of Neighbourhood Trade Schools (looking at community Power/Energy ⚡️): https://wecanmake.notion.site/trade-schools