Hull Raspberry Jam
Read how Jon Witts stepped up to the jam plate…
The first Hull Raspberry Jam was held in November 2014 by Alan O’Donohoe, but there seemed no one willing to maintain the momentum. Fast forward to Easter 2016, when Jon Witts got chatting with Claire Garside (who runs the Leeds Raspberry Jam events) on Twitter about a short video of a robot he’d made with his daughters over the holidays. One thing led to another and Jon relaunched Hull Raspberry Jam in April 2016.
Initially, the Jams were run in a school hall and things went well. Soon Jon had built up a community around the Jams, with people coming along to share, learn and enjoy what could be done with the Raspberry Pi. The Jams have since moved to the more conveniently placed Hull Central Library, where the central location allows for the possibility of passing trade.
To begin with Hull Raspberry Jam used the equipment that Claire had for the Leeds Raspberry Jam, together with the equipment that Jon could bring from the school. But securing a community grant has enabled the group to purchase some equipment of our their own. It’s continuing to look for grant possibilities, or donations to enable the Jam to enlist the help of even more members of the community.
Jon runs the Hull Raspberry Jam roughly every other month and the next planned Jams are 27 January and 3rd March. Expect to find a mixture of workshops and learning activities along with informal show-and-tells about projects. The group aims to make the events accessible for all members of the community, and entry is free. Find out more at https://twitter.com/ HullRaspJam.