By Andy Edwards, Executive Director & Co-founder of Makespace Oxford The business of making space in our towns and cities genuinely accessible to all is complex. We are attempting to disrupt a deeply entrenched system in an incremental, pragmatic and positive way now. At the same time we are also daring to dream into an emergent future […]
Monday 26 September 2022 – This month marks the end of the first stage of a council-led economic regeneration scheme, delivered by social enterprise Makespace Oxford, that has been reviving underused spaces across Oxfordshire’s five district councils. The programme, called ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’, launched in February of 2021 with the goal of reanimating the vast number of […]
A new exhibition opening at Modern Art Oxford will feature a series of portraits of individuals and organisations that are occupying underused spaces that have been revived, repurposed and reanimated by local Community Interest Company Makespace Oxford.
Earlier this week, Radix think tank and a coalition of high street stakeholders published exciting new plans to revive high streets nation-wide. The report, titled A Platform for Places, includes a number of case studies and proposals to revitalise urban centres, and uses our ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…’ programme as an example of models that are already working in this space.
Six of our residents artists and creatives are opening their doors for Oxfordshire Artweeks. Find out more and plan your visit to our Aristotle Lane location.
Dozens of purpose-driven individuals representing funding bodies, key partners and social enterprises from across Oxfordshire came together on Tuesday evening to celebrate the official opening of Makespace Oxford’s new ‘Community Works’. In November last year, Makespace Oxford announced that the third of its flagship city centre workspaces was opening its doors for the first time, with the […]
25 February 2022 – One year after its launch, an innovative pilot scheme from Oxford City Council and Makespace Oxford to transform the use of vacant shops across Oxfordshire is being studied by other councils. Initially launched in February 2021, the £1.875m “Meanwhile in Oxfordshire…” programme has been so successful in its first year that other local […]
Since we launched the ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire’ programme, we’ve received over 315 applications for space from local businesses, organisations and individuals across the county. This number underlines the huge amount of demand there is for affordable workspace, as well as a wider issue in the commercial rental market across Oxfordshire. These are exactly the problems we’re trying […]
15 November 2021 – Four empty units in Oxford City Council’s Covered Market have now been transformed into pop-up shops for local, purpose-led retailers ahead of the festive season. The ‘meanwhile’ or short-term use of these spaces is part of Makespace Oxford’s ‘Meanwhile in Oxfordshire’ programme, commissioned by the City Council, which seeks to reanimate space in […]
If you’ve spent any time around Frideswide Square recently, you might have seen a vibrant splash of colour in one of the shop windows. This mural was by local artist Eleanor Greenhalgh, known as Nor. Against backgrounds of yellow, red and grey, the work featured abstracted figures embracing each other. In some of the individual figures sat […]