EVENTS!
Community Events and Activities at Kitty’s Launderette.
One of our core principles is to create an accessible, welcoming social space for everyone in our diverse local community. Whether you are a regular washing/drying customer or not been to us before, please join us!
Kitty’s Launderette encourages you to socialise in the space as long as you like, stay a while on the comfy benches, have a cup of tea and a natter or use the Wi-Fi and listen to the relaxing hum of the machines.
We have a regular program of activities that happen every week when the launderette is open such as Knitting Club, Tea and Toast and writers group. As well as special programs of events and activities organised by our team and trusted local partners.
Our creative program seeks to have the lowest barriers to entry and the highest aspirations for our community. We organise and host creative and social activities which are appealing and relevant to our local community, while also stretching perceptions, introducing new ways of thinking, areas of interest and skills.
Previously we have hosted writing workshops, live music, kids storytimes, Street theater, art workshops, board game nights, recycled textile crafts, social history talks and Film Nights.
Local History @ Kitty's : The Lost Tribe of Everton and Scottie Road (Fully Booked)
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
It’s 60 years since a clearance programme of almost biblical proportions changed the face of Liverpool’s most famous inner-city districts forever. In the front line, as the bulldozers relentlessly wiped out over 100 years of open-door community living, was the historic district of EVERTON and its famous neighbour, the self-styled independent republic of ‘SCOTTIE ROAD’.
Join Ken Rogers for this special talk which aims to explore and celebrate the lives of those 100,000 people who were scattered far and wide to places like Kirkby, Skelmersdale and Speke. These people became … ‘The Lost Tribe of Everton and Scottie Road’
Ken Rogers is a local historian with extensive knowledge and insight into the area of Everton and the surrounding areas. He has published several books including The Lost Tribe series and books on both EFC and LFC.
Lino Print Craft Workshop (Fully Booked)
Learn to lino print with Liverpool Community Print Station and Kitty's.
Explore the themes of love, community and solidarity through lino printing! Make creative love letters, Valentine's card, solidarity artworks or talismans. Experiment!
Click through to the Eventbrite to sign up.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/lino-print-craft-workshop-tickets-1980556150762
Local History @ Kitty's : Scouse on the page and the screen
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
Scouse: it’s the name we give to the language of Liverpool, but, how and when did it become the way we describe the identity of its citizens? Representations of Liverpool and its language can be traced from the eighteenth century; however, it wasn’t until the 1950s when Frank Shaw and Fritz Spiegl published the Lern yerself Scouse series, that Scouse became a commodified linguistic and social identity. This was followed by the onslaught of representations of Scouse on page and on screen think Bread, The Liver Birds and the novels of Kevin Sampson- all of which were shaped by their contemporary political climate. This talk will trace the emergence and construction of Scouseness across literature and media and consider to what extent these stereotypes distort the reality of being from Liverpool. It will also touch upon how modern artists from Liverpool are responding to inheriting the Scouse identity.
Jenni Lynam is from Liverpool. She completed her BA in English at the University of Oxford in 2023 and is now a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Leeds. Her current research project explores the representation and construction of Liverpool English and the Scouse identity, the emergence of social stereotypes and the role of gender performance.
Local History @ Kitty's : The Fight against Fascism in Liverpool 1923-1940
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
This talk will will explore the growth and the decline of fascism in our city between 1923-1940. It will outline the roots of the movement and of the opposition to it, even before the formation of the British Union of Fascists. Using contemporary sources Chris Jones will give a blow by blow account of fascism as it was on the streets. Now more than ever it is important to recall this history and learn lessons from those before us to apply in fighting against the growing far-right across our communties.
Chris Jones is a retired academic nurse. He is widely published in the field of local history and particularly the public health history of Liverpool. His main focus has been on the problems facing the health of the city in the nineteenth century. He is the author of a published short history of fascism in Liverpool 1923-1940.
Local History @ Kitty's : Liverpool Free Press
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
You’ve read the Liverpool Echo, You read the Daily Post. But have you heard of the Liverpool Free Press? LFP was a radical "alternative" newspaper published in Liverpool during the 1970s under the slogan "News you're not supposed to know". Started by a group of young journalists discontented with the way life in the city was reported by the mainstream local media – Brian Whitaker was one of them. Join us for a special talk as he chronicles a history of radical journalism in our city.
Brian Whitaker is a journalist and writer. Whitaker earned a degree in Arabic studies at the University of Westminster and Latin (BA Hons) at the University of Birmingham. He started work as a graduate journalist with the Liverpool Echo in 1968 and subsequently set up Liverpool Free Press during his tenure. He worked for the British newspaper The Guardian from 1987 and was its Middle East editor from 2000 to 2007. He now runs Al-Bab.com, about politics in the Arab world.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/local-history-kittys-liverpool-free-press-tickets-1976462156515
Local History @ Kitty's : Mary Bamber, Bessie Braddock's radical mother
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
Mary Bamber (1874-1938) was a prominent social and political activist in Liverpool. Known for her work as a trade unionist and suffragist, Bamber championed the rights of workers, women, and the poor. She played a key role in the 1911 Liverpool general transport strike, advocating for better working conditions. A founding member of the Communist Party of Great Britain, she tirelessly campaigned for social justice and was a powerful orator. Her legacy continued through her daughter, Bessie Braddock, who became a notable Labour MP. Bamber's dedication to improving the lives of the marginalized left an enduring impact on British social reform.
James Rees is a prominent member of the North West Labour History Society and sits on the editorial board of the Society's journal.
Local History @ Kitty's : 'Don't Mourn, Organise!' Kirkby Unemployed Centre
Join us for a Local History event at Kitty's Launderette as part of our 'Coming Together at Kitty's' programme!
'Don't Mourn, Organise!' provides a history from below of the Kirkby Unemployed Centre (KUC), a left-wing activist hub and welfare advice centre that operated between 1981 and 2014. Local historian G. Campbell deploys previously unseen archive material and oral testimonies to explore how the KUC played a key role in Merseyside's wider right to work movement, supporting local workers in struggle whilst spearheading several anti-closure campaigns. The talk will also outline the impact of the Centre's famed 'welly rights' team, which brought millions of pounds in unclaimed benefits into Kirkby over a period of 3 decades.The talk will include a short film on the KUC from the North West Film Archive.
G. Campbell is a Liverpool based oral historian. His primary research focus is deindustrialisation; producing intimate accounts of anti-closure campaigns conducted by rank and file unionised workers. As a public historian, his practice centres on working alongside community groups in order to document the experiences of marginalised communities.
Local History @ Kitty's : History with a side of Scouse
Take a pint of Mersey mud, mix in a lump of Celtic spirit, a few slices of Lancashire grit and season with an exotic blend of spice. Come and learn the history of Scouse (and Scousers). The evening will be a quick trip through the history of Liverpool and its people!
Hosted by Richard MacDonald.
This is the first event of our new local history programme for 2026. To mark the occasion there will be a free bowl of scouse (or two if you’re lucky) for all attendees… It’s only fitting.
Kitty's Writing Group
Join us at Kitty’s Launderette for our monthly writing group!
Weather you’re an avid writer or never picked up the pen before this group is open to all abilities. Facilitated by local writer Pauline Rowe the sessions will get you in the creative spirit bringing your ideas to life on the page.
Kitty's Writing Group
Join us at Kitty’s Launderette for our monthly writing group!
Weather you’re an avid writer or never picked up the pen before this group is open to all abilities. Facilitated by local writer Pauline Rowe the sessions will get you in the creative spirit bringing your ideas to life on the page.
Local History Talk: Myths & Legends
Liverpool is home to many Myths and Legends and this evening of local history will aim to uncover just some of them. Local historian and blue badge tour guide Richard McDonald will deliver this exciting talk that will give you a chance to learn more about the Mole of Edge hill, The Devil and the Gambler and Adolf Hitlers Liverpool Link among others....