RESIDENTS queued up for Wokingham’s first repair cafe before its doors were even open, and the group’s fixers were kept busy throughout the session.
Visitors to the event brought all kinds of things for repair, including an antique concertina, a teddy who’d seen better days, a handbag, a radio, fans, and several hoovers.
Wokingham’s deputy town mayor, Robert Comber brought his bicycle to be mended by fixer Simon Willis.
He said: “I am very impressed.
“From the number of people who have come today, there are clearly plenty of residents who have items of some value to them, whether practical, or emotional – that they’ve held onto, which aren’t working properly, and that they’d love to have fixed.
“A place like this, where knowledgeable people are fixing these things out of the goodness of their souls is very impressive.
“Since I’ve been deputy mayor, the number of people and organisations that I’ve found who are giving freely of their time and effort around Wokingham is astonishing and very humbling.
“I’ve brought along a mountain bike that I’ve had for many years, and that I use.
But it should have around 27 gears, and only two work, which makes it harder to ride than it should be.
So I’m hoping that Simon can get it working properly, to encourage me to use it more.”
Maya Gheorghe of Maya’s Refillables, and one of the Wokingham Repair Cafe organisers, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic.
“A lot of people have turned up.
“We had queues from 9:30am, half an hour before the opening, and by 10 o’clock, we already had 25 visitors through reception and sitting down with fixers.
“It’s an absolute success, the turnout has been fantastic, and all the repairers have been very busy.
“It’s been the best thing we could have imagined.”
Unusual items brought in were, a treadmill, ancient lamps and family heirloom clocks.
Atul brought in a broken fan.
“I couldn’t figure out what was wrong,” he said.
“Electrically it was fine, but this gentleman has discovered the problem, and glued the part.
Fixer Seamus McClintock, said: “Yes, the shroud had cracked and it was catching in the fan blades, so I’ve glued it with epoxy.
“My knowledge of glues has been used heavily today – I normally work repairing eyewear.
“I haven’t fixed a single pair of glasses today, but I’ve mended a lot of other things, which has been interesting.
“It’s so important to get things working again to stop them going to landfill.”
An 1895 squeezebox kept owner Paul Harris, and fixer Mike Lowney busy.
“I inherited it from my grandfather, who died a couple of weeks before I was born,” said Paul.
“He used to play it at family gatherings in South Wales.”
Mike said: “I think we can fix it, there are a number of parts I can re-use, and some I can replace.
“But there are two broken springs that may prove a challenge, and one mystery piece.
“The timber is warped too, which makes things difficult, so I’ll need to get that flat again.
“There are 38 keys on the instrument, but I’m confident that we can get 36 of them useable again.
“Confidence is high.”
Chloe and her mum, Sam, brought along T-Bear, who looked much happier after his repair.
“Thank you, fixers, so much – you’ve done an amazing job,” said Sam.
“I know it sounds daft, but T-Bear is part of the family.
“We’ve had him since Chloe was a few months old, and she’s 19 now.
“We got him from a Red Arrow RAF show, and he’s very beloved and special.”
Every item is logged, and its repair recorded, enabling repair cafe organisers to calculate how much CO2 has been saved by each session.
The Wokingham Repair Cafe will take place monthly at All Saints Church, Norreys.
It is organised by Wokingham In Bloom, Maya’s Refillables, and SpaceForAll.
The next event is on Saturday, May 11, from 10am until 1pm.
For more information, visit: www.wokinghamrepaircafe.uk, www.mayasrefillables.com, www.wokingham-tc.gov.uk/inbloom, and www.allsaintswokingham.org.uk
