How You Can Help...
Like our Facebook page and follow what we’re doing, tell your friends, come to our events and eat in our café. Become a member and start skating/riding, or pop some money in the donations pot on our counter.
We also have a wish list of things we need or want but can’t afford. People may have these items lying around that they don’t want any more, or they might have skills / knowledge they would be willing to ‘donate’ to us:
Things
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An old computer (nothing fancy, we just need to be able to run Excel, Word, a database and access the internet)
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Power tools
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An old shop mannequin
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Tiles (all sorts of tiles, even broken ones. we’d like to mosaic our counter and tile the pizza oven counter outside)
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Tall glass fronted drinks fridge (the sort you see in newsagents, tall and thin)
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Small caravans (we’re looking for small caravans for our yard space. We’d like to use them as studio spaces, meeting spaces or bookable as dining rooms for our café)
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Paint and brushes – gloss, emulsion, anything. We’re always doing stuff up.
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Plants – We’d like some plants for our café and flowers for outside for our planters.
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Standard lamp – for the cosy reading area in our café
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A big round brass doorknob (sounds silly but we can’t find one anywhere!)
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Microwave, kettle and toaster (for our artist studios)
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Rolls of Insulation (for some partition walls we’re building in the studios at the moment)
People
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Accountant – We’re looking for help with preparing our annual accounts later in 2015
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Our fire extinguishers need servicing in March, if anyone reading this has a company that could do that that would be amazing!
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PAT tester – someone qualified to PAT test willing to come and test our electrical items in March 2015
Words from Gareth...
Spit and Sawdust is an incredibly special place. I picked up my first skateboard when I was 12 years old but it wasn't until I was 17 that it began to make sense to me. At an age where everything begins to get more complicated and you find yourself constantly jumping through hoops in the form of exams, "life decisions" and homework, it was positively freeing to be in charge of your own hoops for once. The only challenges that you face are the ones you create and each new challenge helps shape your identity. Skateboarding can be described as a sport but it can also be described as a form of art or expression. Each skateboarder has their own style and no two skateboarders are the same which removes a competetive nature that is found in the majority of sports and therefore creates a supportive, shared community of like minded individuals. Each new discovery is passed on to the next generation that can warp and reinvent for themselves.
The reason that Spit and Sawdust is special is because of it's strong connection with the arts. What they have achieved in the short time that they have been open is incredible with 30 events covering micro festivals, jam's, music video shoots, exhibitions, performances, gigs, and 3 charity events raising money for the Huggard centre, SkatePal and The Heath hospital! They are not only supporting the skating community but the local artists of Cardiff and the combination will only improve the lives for both of the aforementioned. This combination helps remove the stigma associated with skateboarding, a stigma that has been created from a lack of understanding and lack of compassion. Spit and Sawdust helps us to move forward with open minds and consideration for one another. In a time when our world leaders are bickering and pointing fingers it's a relief to have somewhere to go that encourages difference and allows exploration and even failure... as long as you get back on your board and try again.
"Skaters, I think they tend to be outsiders who seek a sense of belonging, but belonging on their own terms, and real respect is given by how much we take what other guys do, these basic tricks, 360 flips, we take that, we make it our own, and then we contribute back to the community the inner way that edifies the community itself." Rodney Mullen (The Godfather of Street Skating)
If you like this check out...
Abergavenny Youth Centre at http://www.monyouth.co.uk/centres/abergavenny/ and in association with Monmouthshire Youth Service https://www.facebook.com/MonYouth