Latest news with #RepairCafe
Otago Daily Times
13-07-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Learning how to help environment
REPORT & PHOTO: JULES CHIN Holding a sustainable shell in her hands at the Just One Thing (JOT) sustainability table is Waimarino Ainsley, 5, at the Plastic Free July Expo and Repair Cafe on Saturday. The free Waste Free Waitaki event at the Waitaki Community Recreation Centre was supported by the Waitaki Resource Recovery Trust and the Waitaki District Council. Trust manager and organiser Trish Hurley said the event was in its second year and the main goal was to reduce negative impacts on the environment. "We run the event to educate people and show them practical and fun ways on how to make the environment a lot better for the generations going forward," she said. Waimarino's aunt, Davina Eru, of Oamaru, said they liked learning new things at the expo. "I'm interested in the crop swaps and workshops for sustainable fashion. I want to join up and learn more," she said. Mrs Hurley said although the attendance was down on last year, this year there were more offerings, and more people signed up for future sustainability workshops. About 60 people attended the event, including Dunedin group Recycle a Device (RAD) and a cheesemaking workshop run by Lynda Ramsay. RAD held a full-day workshop that gave children and young adults an opportunity to recycle a device by learning how to diagnose any issues and fix them via a laptop. The expo stalls were dedicated to sustainable activities such as jewellery and cycle repair, carpentry, welding and sewing. The Repair Cafe was a chance for people to bring in their broken items, which ranged from toys to lawnmowers, and get help to fix them.
BBC News
26-06-2025
- General
- BBC News
Somerset repair cafe's tech amnesty to support community
A community project, which encourages people to bring in items to be fixed for free, has opened an amnesty point for unused technology to be handed in and repurposed for others. The Repair Café, started by Biddy Hammond from Somerset, has helped hundreds of people since being set up in October has two donation drop-ins a month, one in Burnham on Sea and the other in nearby Highbridge. Items can also be donated at the information bureau on Burnham now have almost 20 volunteers, fixing items including soft toys, upholstery, electricals, and clocks, which in turn, reduces items sent to landfill sites. Ms Hammond said it was after hearing a woman at a charity shop saying she could not afford to fix her iron, that she came up with the idea of opening a repair café."I thought it's such a simple thing to do to help people out and it's pointless buying a new whatever every five minutes, because items work for such a short while nowadays." Repair Cafe volunteers also visit homes with a thermal imaging camera, to help people increase insulation with "simple fixes in their homes like thicker curtains," Ms Hammond said after lockdown the repair cafe has built the community in quite a strong way, offering a service and a social Champion, one of the repair team, said: "We have a good time, hopefully delight a few customers, and send them home with things they had written off that are back to working condition again."And people are so delighted when you help them fix something especially when it has high sentimental value," he added.
BBC News
18-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Appeal for skilled volunteers to keep St Austell Repair Cafe open
A community repair hub has made a plea for more volunteers after it had to suspend its opening times due to staffing St Austell Repair Cafe, which is part of a 26-strong consortium across Cornwall, said it was on hiatus until September because it was unable to "promote and run the Repair Cafe effectively."The St Austell branch was set up in 2021 by Peter Blenard to help people with repairs or advice in the local Blenard said the decision to pause the cafe was "sad because I think people are really tapping into this space where they can bring their items and get them fixed". 'Bringing people together' Mr Blenard said: "We've got the people coming in but sadly we don't have the volunteers and we know there are people out there with skills we can use. "You don't need to be absolutely amazing at something - I would always refer to myself as a jack of all trades but a master of absolutely nothing."Even the smallest skills you think you have, can be helpful to so many."Mr Blenard said the repair cafe was looking for more electrical repairers, more mechanical repairers, more people with soldering skills and more sewing skills."It's not just about fixing stuff, although that has such a positive impact, this is about bringing people together as well," he added."It's about sharing your skills and getting to know each other." 'All sorts of roles' The chairman said vacuum cleaners were "usually an absolutely huge" item brought in for fixing, alongside watches, lamps and Blenard said he would "love five or six volunteers willing to give a couple of hours a month" to help get the repair cafe up and running again."We want people to feel comfortable and that it's not a huge daunting prospect but something that can help your local community and also help people in need who haven't got the money to buy something new.""It's not just about fixing things. We need people to provide the tea and coffee, triage the things that come in and point people in the right direction. There's all sorts of roles at a repair cafe," he St Austell Repair Cafe will be running a volunteer introduction morning at 10:00 BST on 9 August in the Light & Life Centre.
BBC News
03-03-2025
- General
- BBC News
BBC Make a Difference Awards: Behind the scenes at repair cafe
It is Winchester's answer to the popular BBC programme The Repair Shop and on a grey Saturday morning it is a hive of Repair Cafe is held at the Badger Farm Community Centre in the city once a month. Despite starting just over a year ago, word has quickly spread and its popularity was further boosted after it won a BBC Make a Difference Award. The Green Award recognised its work in saving items from landfill and has allowed it to access more grant funding with expansion plans now in the pipeline. Amongst the dozens of kettles, toasters and vacuum cleaners are a handful of treasured items. The volunteers are not simply fixing things - they are keeping memories the back of the hall a volunteer is puzzling over the intricacies of the rigging of a model ship brought in by Jane Harding: "A friend of mine worked here and she told me about it, and I thought 'well I just wonder whether they might be able to mend it', but I hope I'm not giving them too much to do!"The ship is very precious to Ms Harding as it was made by her late partner Andrew: "It was made in 1993, before I met him. "He died 10 years ago but his boat has been up in his office in my attic since then, gradually bits falling off it and falling to pieces."It is a new one for cafe volunteer Charles Bone: "We are doing our best to repair the rigging, so far we have restored this mast here. "It is a Thames Wherry, but the Thames Wherrys on the images we found are not quite the same so it gives us an extra challenge as to how we are going to complete it."In response to demand, the repair cafe has extended its opening hours, which is good news for the ship repair."It gives us a better chance to restore it, and we're certainly making improvements already," says Mr Bone. And Ms Harding is a happy customer "it just instantly looks better". New volunteer Christopher Rice is at his third session and already this morning he has partly fixed two guitars. Last month he had a cuckoo clock, and he is working on an antique doll which has been brought in by Katie Faddy. "It's certainly new to me, I've never done a doll before," he says. However, Mr Rice is unfazed: "I like fixing things, and I've been doing it all my life for my family, so I thought I'd come along, and I've really enjoyed it." He is also discovering that the internet is a big help: "A lot of the guys use YouTube, there's always a video for almost everything you want to fix."It's helped him with Ms Faddy's doll. The string which held the limbs together has broken, so the doll has been dismantled and is in the process of being restrung. Ms Faddy says: "The doll was given to me in the 1970s by my mother, I didn't rediscover it again until I cleared out her things. "I was about 14 when she gave it to me because it's not meant to be played with by children, it's a collection piece."She's a beautiful doll, a bit more upmarket than a Cindy doll, she's lovely."Ms Faddy is a repeat customer, having previously visited with a broken hairdryer, which was beyond repair cafe has saved more than 1500kg (3300lbs) of waste from landfill. It was recognised with The Green Award at BBC Radio Solent's Make a Difference Awards in September. Since winning the award the cafe has had success with grant applications and is planning to open pop up repair cafes around Winchester, as well as helping other groups to get similar projects off the ground. And it is good news for the doll as Mr Bone says "I'm getting the hang of it, I think we'll fix her"."It's a great service," Ms Faddy agrees. The Make a Difference Awards recognise and celebrate people, across eight different categories, who are going above and beyond to make a difference where they BBC Local Radio station will host an awards ceremony in awards are a chance to say "thank you" and show recognition and appreciation for people who love to make life better for can be made via the BBC Make a Difference website where you can also see full terms and the privacy close on the 31st March 2025 at 17:00. You can follow BBC Hampshire & Isle of Wight on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
