Events

No breathing techniques.
No new ways of sitting.
No subtle manoeuvres.
Nothing.

Meeting in silence isn’t a new idea. But we aren’t sitting for mindfulness, or for art, or for spiritual improvement. We’re just sitting. It’s going to be boring. A little boredom is good for you - and it’s increasingly hard to come by.

We’ll sit down.
A couple of minutes to arrive.
Phones off.

We’ll sit quietly for 45 minutes. If you need to leave, you can. No pressure. At the end, there’s no debrief. No revelations. You just get up and carry on with your day.

Hope that’s OK with you.

Read out loud from your writing practice (max. 10min) – prose, poetry, essay, memoir and everything in between – to a group of closely listening fellow dabblers in writing. Discuss your work and methods in an informal, friendly, supportive environment.

Altogether Otherwise is a place where things always happen—where making, doing, and shared endeavour are all part of the fun. We run workshops, create things, and keep the Hobby House buzzing with activity. No end goals, no pressure, just a space to tinker, try, and enjoy the simple joy of doing.

In this weekly yoga club we'll be exploring all elements of Yoga from the physical practice & breath to meditation, philosophy & beyond.

All levels of experience are welcome.

Bring a mat & wear something comfy. Every week at Altogether Otherwise.

Hosted by Tam - @tamara.gwen

Altogether Otherwise is a place where things always happen. Where making, doing, and shared endeavour are all part of the fun. We run workshops, create things, and keep the Hobby House buzzing with activity. No end goals, no pressure, just a space to tinker, try, and enjoy the simple joy of doing.

Join PLANT CIC for our Wildlife Gardening Club.

For this session we’ll be joined by the wonderful Rupert Adams, Chair of Cheshire and The Wirral Branch of Butterfly Conservation, to learn all about the urban butterflies of Manchester and how to attract them to breed and feed in your garden.

A yarn club guided by the moon and seasons. Bring your current project and a notebook. All yarn crafts and levels welcome!

Altogether Otherwise is a place where things always happen. Where making, doing, and shared endeavour are all part of the fun. We run workshops, create things, and keep the Hobby House buzzing with activity. No end goals, no pressure, just a space to tinker, try, and enjoy the simple joy of doing.

Come along every Tuesday evening to potter around in our community garden.

Anything gardening related - you name it, we probably do it.

Altogether Otherwise is a place where things always happen. Where making, doing, and shared endeavour are all part of the fun. We run workshops, create things, and keep the Hobby House buzzing with activity. No end goals, no pressure, just a space to tinker, try, and enjoy the simple joy of doing.

Mending used to be second nature - most homes had a tin of buttons, needles, and thread ready for repairs. Now, a missing button or worn-out sock often means the end of a garment.

Mending Club brings those lost skills back. It’s a friendly, free space to slow down, learn or practice mending, and share stories stitched into our clothes. Bring along the jeans you’ve worn to death, your moth-eaten jumper, or socks with holes - together we’ll give them new life.

No experience needed - whether you’re a seasoned stitcher or can’t thread a needle, you’re welcome. Every other Tuesday at Altogether Otherwise, we gather to darn, patch, stitch, and mend. Tools and materials are provided, and inspiration is always on hand.

Expect a casual social environment where we can share what we’re currently working on, ask for advice and chat. We’re all about sharing knowledge and skills, so if you’re not sure how to go about a particular mend, feel free to ask! If you don’t have access to all the supplies you might need, a range of needles and materials will be supplied. If you’re not sure what you may need for a particular mend, check out the @manchestermendingclub Instagram for more inspiration.

No breathing techniques.
No new ways of sitting.
No subtle manoeuvres.
Nothing.

Meeting in silence isn’t a new idea. But we aren’t sitting for mindfulness, or for art, or for spiritual improvement. We’re just sitting. It’s going to be boring. A little boredom is good for you - and it’s increasingly hard to come by.

We’ll sit down.
A couple of minutes to arrive.
Phones off.

We’ll sit quietly for 45 minutes. If you need to leave, you can. No pressure. At the end, there’s no debrief. No revelations. You just get up and carry on with your day.

Hope that’s OK with you.

Graham Caveney is the author of three fascinating, hilarious, horrifying and strangely uplifting memoirs: ‘The Boy With The Perpetual Nervousness’, which tells the fragmented, difficult story of his working-class adolescence in the North of England suffused with the trauma of abuse by a Catholic priest, mentor and headmaster. ‘On Agoraphobia’, his essay-memoir on living with a debilitating condition of spatial anxiety that blends personal experience with the researched accounts of related examples of struggle, from Franz Kafka to Anne Tyler. And most recently, ‘The Body in the Library: Memoir of a Diagnosis’, his defiant account of living, loving and reading with a terminal cancer diagnosis. He has written critically acclaimed monographs on William Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, as well as a plethora of literary music journalism for a variety of publications includingThe Face,Q,The Guardian,The Independent,Arena and GQ.

Caveneys’ autobiographical writings perform that most difficult feat of conveying the weight and seriousness of distressing experiences with the greatest possible lightness, humor and grace. At all times he entangles the personal within the wider context of the culture that surrounds him, from his vivid chronicling of Northern working class life during the 1980s to the manifold accounts of his passionate, burning encounters with music and above all literature throughout his lifetime.

Caveney will be in conversation with the editor and publisher Will Rees, founder of the magnificent Peninsula Press and author of thefree-wheeling philosophical essay ‘Hypochondria’, an exercise in exploring 'the causes – and the costs – of our desire for certainty' with a structural blend of research and anecdote.

In this weekly yoga club we'll be exploring all elements of Yoga from the physical practice & breath to meditation, philosophy & beyond.

All levels of experience are welcome.

Bring a mat & wear something comfy. Every week at Altogether Otherwise.

Hosted by Tam - @tamara.gwen

Altogether Otherwise is a place where things always happen. Where making, doing, and shared endeavour are all part of the fun. We run workshops, create things, and keep the Hobby House buzzing with activity. No end goals, no pressure, just a space to tinker, try, and enjoy the simple joy of doing.