In the 1970s and 80s access to small presses – sometimes set up as co-operatives or collectives – allowed political and community groups to print posters, books, pamphlets and leaflets for local campaigns and events easily and cheaply. Many of these smaller firms and workshops, such as Calverts, Lenthall Road Workshop, Trojan Press, Chats Palace, Spider Web and Aldgate Press were in east London.
Community printing workshops in east London gave people the opportunity to print posters, leaflets and flyers cheaply and make use of creative and graphic processes like silkscreen and risograph. In Hackney in the 1970s and 1980s, places like Lenthall Road workshop and Chats Palace, among others, had open access workshops for people to print their own promotional materials for events and community / political causes.