The Plot
Welcome to The Plot!
Home to 18 small organisations and Jabulani, a fantastic food court serving Ethiopian, Eritrean, and West African food and Rwandan coffee.
Pop in and experience how a community can come together to do business, have fun, and make a special space for everyone.
The Plot
80—84 Union Street
Plymouth
PL1 3EZ
Tuesday—Saturday
11am—5pm
Here are some of The Plotters you can meet when you visit!
The Plotters are a diverse group of amazing individuals and organisations. A mix of socially-minded businesses specialising in food, energy, community development, art, media, technology, sustainability, and innovation.
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Vicky Putler has worked in the creative industries for the last 28 years. 12 years ago, she started a printed textiles business, Thorody, printing her designs onto linen for the interiors industry. Frustration at being unable to buy linen grown in the UK led her to set up The Flax Project, which aims to grow flax for linen and revive the fibre flax/linen industry in the Tamar Valley.
The Flax Project has now become her main focus. In 2021 The Flax Project grew and harvested 1 acre of flax, and 2 acres in 2022. Vicky has led several community flax growing and flax craft projects in Plymouth, including a Flax Spiral at Snapdragons, Victoria Park, A Mini Flax Farm in the City (Green Minds Commission), and A Flax Corn Dolly in Blockhouse Park (POP commission with the Village Hub).
At The Plot, Vicky runs workshops in flax crafts, natural dyeing, spinning, weaving and printing. Check out her page on Eventbrite to join and follow their Instagram @flax_project for more information.
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The Greenhouse acts as a creative technology hub for local organisations and residents, providing technological and digital support through a neighbourhood-based drop-in centre. The Greenhouse is a place where people can experience and play with technology in a way that supports them to learn how it could benefit them. This includes students working in the community, running workshops, events, and one-to-one support for local people and aims to encourage local and sustainable thinking, providing a stimulus for local entrepreneurship.
This project supports the Civic University approach and aims to raise the profile of the University in the local community so that it feels more accessible for local people and provides support to increase local skills.
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Plymouth Parkour runs workshops and activities for children and adults who want to use local spaces for free running, a non-competitive form of exercise in which you move freely over areas using only the body.
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It Takes A Village is a small group of mums, social entrepreneurs, educators, community builders, cheerleaders and friends. They believe that it really DOES take a village to raise a child, and want to help ensure that families in our community have that village around them.
Visit ITAV at The Patch in The Plot, come along to their Swap & Shop events or book a slot for your kids in one of their brilliant STEAM (sciene, technology, engineering, art & maths) workshops.
Facebook: /ItTakesAVillagePlymouth
Instagram: @takesavillageplym
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The Sewcial Guild believes that a fairer world is possible - and that the garment industry has a lot to answer to! With a focus on sewing lessons, crafting get-togethers, alterations, upcycling and raising awareness, they are working hard to rid the world of fast fashion. Join Diane and the rest of the Sewcial crew at The Plot on Tuesdays, from 5:30pm, for their regular crafty gatherings.
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Smarta is on a mission to find you the most competitive deals in the marketplace for your business energy, insurance, merchant services, and phone and broadband. We will not stop until we have achieved a cost saving of at least £1k for each and every business owner. Smarta simplifies business services by searching for and switching to the best deals on your behalf.
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JarSquad is currently co-animated by Rachel Dobbs, Tess Wilmot and Carmen Wong.
We initially connected over a deep interest in tasty food sealed in jars, and then came together in Plymouth to start a more focussed and practical conversation around how we could be more active in promoting circular systems of food production, preservation, and communal abundance.
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Purple Pin Studio is to freelance illustrator Kitty who specialises in creating visual narratives and pattern design. She also runs Plymouth Zine Library and holds regular zine-making workshops. Pop in for a chat, ask her about commissions and browse her wonderful pin badges, prints, cards, comics and wrapping paper.
To explore Kitty's work further, be sure to follow her on social media!
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I have been fashioning felt in 2D and 3D form for 25 years now and am endlessly fascinated by the new directions it affords as an art form as well as a craft. It truly blurs the boundary. It also has a great many contributions to make in a sustainable future. Stop by The Sheep Shed to talk to me about any aspect of felt making!
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Our BAME community radio station aims to serve and empower the diverse communities of Devon, Cornwall, and the world at large.
Our programming will feature a mix of music, news, and talk shows that cater to the specific cultural and linguistic needs of our listeners. We will also provide a platform for our community members to share their stories and perspectives, as well as offer a space for local businesses and organisations to connect with our audience.
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The Weaving Shed is run by Gia Daprano, a self-taught weaver using craft for therapeutic outcomes.
Find out more on The Weaving Shed’s Instagram page.
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Precious Plastic Plymouth & Tavistock
We are part of Precious Plastic, a global community, who in the true spirit of social enterprise, put their idea out there for us all to use. In a nutshell, it involves recycling plastic by shredding it, heating it and re-molding it into new useful/artistic creations. We use our machines to recycle plastic that is otherwise difficult to recycle and reduce transport and other associated costs by recycling locally. We think of this as a fun project to bring the community together, engage with recycling and plastic waste issues and get creative. Even better, this process can create high-quality saleable plastic products.
www.preciousplasticplymouth.co.uk
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Jabulani was founded in 2020. The idea of creating a food hub came from a DBI (Diversity Business Incubator) networking event with women from diverse communities who were highly skilled chefs. They loved cooking for their family, friends and communities but didn’t have the space to express and talk in length about the food in their culture and associated skills.
Through networking and communication, the idea of creating this space came about that could not only accommodate them within the community, sharing their food and culture, but also making it as a business. So, Jabulani is that space where dialogues are formed from food but it is also giving back to the Black and Asian women community from the South West by supporting them to flourish and succeed.
Currently, Jabulani is home to three businesses: Jabulani Coffee which offers single-origin coffee sourced from Rwanda, run by Liliane and Hana, African Delight run by Clarise and Sarrah, and Elsie’s Habesha Cuisine by Elizabeth.
Stop by for a bite from Tuesday—Saturday, 12:00—18:00!
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WonderZoo is an audacious and uncompromising Storytelling adventure infused with 1920s surrealism and Punk DIY Ethics. It attracts like-minded folk, gathering amiable people of a diverse range of talent, literary flair, creative nous and lunacy.
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We pronounce it ‘new dice’ because it is time for a new roll of the dice. Business as usual isn’t working. It relies on cultures and ways of working that are designed around one set of neurotypes.
This is fine in times of stability where innovation is irrelevant or undesirable. These are not such times. These are times of uncertainty and change.
We need cultures and ways of working that allow people with different ways of thinking to come together to innovate and create new solutions. We need neuro-inclusive cultures and ways of working. This means we need new models for doing business. And this means we need NeuDICE.
At NeuDICE, we support neurodivergent people to develop their full business potential and we support businesses to develop neuro-inclusive cultures.
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QueerOutLoud is the South West’s Queer Creative Network. They started by hosting queer performance nights across Plymouth, and now have a small shop at The Plot where they sell products by local queer creatives. From poetry anthologies, to albums, to jewellery, to prints, they have everything you might want!
They will be hosting workshops, art sessions, and the occasional performance night at The Plot, to introduce new people to the arts, and create safe spaces for queer artists.
It is run by Mimi Jones: Young City Laureate of Plymouth, poet and playwright. They write about their experiences as an autistic, queer, trans and disabled person navigating a world not designed for them.
Keep track of their activities by following their Instagram page @queeroutloud.
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Connecting Youth CIC is a youth organisation. Their vision is that the young people they work with believe in themselves, feel safe and can take control of their futures. Their mission is to build trusting relationships with young people and provide a safe space to enable them to take control of their future and to work with young people to break down barriers through projects, activities and events.
Head to their website to find out more, or stop by The Plot and catch one of their Youth Ambassadors!
We are currently looking for a new Plotter!
Click here to read about The Plot’s aims, values and the benefits of being a Plotter and to express your interest in joining!
Past Plotters
The Plot is a great springboard for small businesses looking to scale up. Here are some of the organisations that moved onto bigger things!
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![Azza's Gallery]()
Azza's Gallery
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The Love Shack
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Plymouth Energy Community
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Plymouth Hope
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Gifted Women
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B.B. Excel Designs
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The Care Nest
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Omnium Radio
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Creative Curiosities
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Buddha Hut
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Plymouth Mountain Bike Collective
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The Original Fruitcakes
