There are a few messages and thoughts about Repair Cafe opportunities below, partly prompted by enthusiasm from a number of you about Repair Cafes at our last HGN Gathering.
First – a message from The Centre for Sustainable Design:
With the growing interest in repair linked to circular economy discussions, the below are a series of links to a number of resources
- Reports on aspects of citizen-driven repair
- Farnham Repair Café
- YouTube channel
- CfSD website: cfsd.org.uk
In Herefordshire we have 2 successful Repair Cafes: Malvern Hills Repair Cafe to the east of the county, and Kington Repair Cafe over to the west. Both are always keen to receive interest from volunteers with time or skills to share.
Over the past year in Herefordshire New Leaf and Big Skill also worked on a series of ‘Make Do & Mend Cafes’ from community centres around the county. The project was made possible by funding from Awards for All, and offered hands on information about sustainable lifestyle skills, including opportunities for local people to try traditional household crafts and learn basic repair skills.
Although a follow-up to that project might be possible with further funding, the local Repair Cafe scene – especially in the middle of the county – is essentially waiting for someone to rejuvenate it.
So! If anyone out there has a passion to see another Repair Cafe happening in or around Hereford / Leominster / Ross or Bromyard, please get in touch! There are a few venues that we know would be interested to support this happening – all we really need are a couple of keen volunteers to take up the challenge and get things moving …
We’ve also received an invitation from Cambridge Carbon Footprint (CCF) and the Cambridgeshire Repair Cafe Network (CRCN):
On Saturday November 11th CRCN are planning to run the World’s Biggest Repair Cafe as part of the Circular Cambridge Festival. The Festival is the flagship event of Circular Cambridge, a CCF project which promotes solutions to waste and over consumption. In order to run the largest Repair Cafe they’ll need to have 300+ people attending and bringing items for repair. They’re hoping the event will draw attention to and engage people in a discussion in the issues around waste, consumerism, climate change and solutions, and of course make hundreds of people happy by fixing their stuff! From small household appliances and electrical items, computers, mobile phones, bicycles, clothes, jewellery to general bits and bobs.
If you’re a keen repairer who can fix these sorts of items they’d love your help! Repairers will work in four hour shifts starting at different times throughout the day. They’ll receive the gratitude of those getting their items fixed and lots of free tea, coffee and cake. The group are also able to offer accommodation for repairers who have had to travel a long way.
If you could volunteer as a repairer please get in touch with them at hello@circularcambridge.org or phone 01223 301842 for more information.
Maybe this experience would be of interest to anyone considering setting up a Repair Cafe in Herefordshire?!
There is more general background about Repair Cafes here.
And a short BBC film about our local Repair Cafe in Malvern here.
… Hoping to hear from you 🙂
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