The story behind 40 years of Giroscope.
In the mid-1980s, a group of young people in Hull stopped waiting for somebody else to fix their neighbourhood.
Inspired by punk politics, DIY culture and a belief that housing could change lives, we began renovating empty homes in West Hull, learning trades as we went, creating affordable housing and building a community rooted in collective action.
Forty years later, that small workers’ cooperative has evolved into Giroscope, a registered charity and one of Hull’s longest-running housing and neighbourhood renewal organisations.
We weren’t setting out to build an organisation. We were trying to create decent homes, support each other and take control of our own future.
This month, as part of its 40th anniversary programme, we are launching the Origin Story Trilogy, a three-part public events series exploring how a radical housing initiative grew into a lasting force for neighbourhood renewal, skills, enterprise and community development.
The story is explored in There Was Always a Soundtrack, a recent reflection by founders Martin Newman and Robert Amesbury that traces how music, politics, and the DIY spirit of the 1980s shaped Giroscope’s earliest years.
For Giroscope, housing was never just about buildings. Stable homes became the foundation for everything else: skills, confidence, employment, enterprise and stronger neighbourhoods.
What began with renovating empty properties eventually created opportunities for people to learn trades, gain experience, build careers and take an active role in shaping their community. That same philosophy continues to underpin our work today.
Although we now deliver landmark regeneration projects across Hull, Giroscope’s core approach remains unchanged: local people creating change together from the ground up.
Housing as an absolute bedrock
Everything depends on decent, affordable, energy-efficient homes. As a trusted landlord, Giroscope’s tenants can access a high-quality supported housing service or general needs housing, with prompt repairs, security of tenure and direct access to a team who put people first.
Regeneration rooted in community
Today, Giroscope’s work includes some of Hull’s most ambitious community-led regeneration projects. St Matthew’s Community Enterprise Centre, the former Grade II listed church, has been restored as a thriving centre for enterprise, collaboration and community activity, supporting training, co-working, business development and regeneration in the heart of West Hull. The West Park Palace is one of the organisation’s most ambitious developments, which will see a locally listed former Edwardian cinema transformed into a new community asset, preserving an important part of Hull’s heritage and providing a destination for ‘mind, body and soul’ in the heart of Hull.
Together, the projects demonstrate how regeneration can extend beyond physical redevelopment, bringing empty buildings back into use while creating opportunities for people, businesses and communities to grow.
Giroscope’s work now aligns closely with wider national conversations around neighbourhood renewal, including the government’s Pride in Place agenda and research from the Independent Commission on Neighbourhoods (ICON), both of which emphasise the importance of long-term local involvement and street-level community-led regeneration. Through the ‘Our Handmade Neighbourhood’ project, Giroscope’s researchers, engagement, regeneration and development specialists are working with communities to explore grassroots solutions to bring about change.
But Giroscope’s story began long before those ideas entered mainstream policy discussions.
The Origin Story Trilogy will combine archive material, personal reflections and discussion to explore how a small workers’ cooperative became part of Hull’s wider social and cultural history, and what its experience can still teach us about housing, regeneration and community power today.
Giroscope 40: Origin Story Trilogy
All events take place at St Matthew’s Community Enterprise Centre, Hull.
Part 1: Origins
Friday 22nd May 12 noon – 1.30 pm
Exploring the political, cultural and economic influences that shaped Giroscope’s beginnings in the 1980s, and their relevance today.
More information and bookings here
Part 2: The self-help housing movement
Friday 3rd July 12 noon – 1.30 pm
Looking at how renovating homes became the foundation for wider neighbourhood renewal, skills and opportunity.
More information and bookings here
Part 3: Legacy and the future
Friday 18th September
Reflecting on Giroscope’s legacy and the future of community-led regeneration in Hull and beyond.
