What Can a Village Hall Learn from a Hackspace?
East Essex Hackspace wasn’t one of the winners at this year’s Village Halls Inspiration Awards — but it caught the judges’ eye, and once you hear what they’ve built, you’ll understand why.
Operating out of a former cricket pavilion in Essex, the Hackspace runs almost 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. It’s home to 3D printers, laser cutters, a jewellery workshop, a board game club, social nights, and a repair café where the whole point isn’t just to fix your broken item — it’s to teach you how to fix it yourself. They even built a battery-powered go-kart from scratch.
It’s not a traditional village hall. But that’s exactly why we wanted to talk to them.
In this episode, Marc Smith sits down with Tim Neobard from East Essex Hackspace to explore what happens when a community space refuses to think small. We talk about the membership model that keeps the doors open, the insurance questions nobody thinks to ask, and — crucially — which single idea from the Hackspace world any village hall could pick up and run with tomorrow.
If you’re on a hall committee and you’re looking for fresh thinking, this one’s for you.
Visit East Essex Hackspace here – Website
East Essex Hackspace was recognised by the judges of the Village Halls Inspiration Awards 2025. The awards return again this year.
