REPAIR cafes are popping up all over the nation as people rediscover the joys of mending.
One of the first to appear in the borough, Spencers Wood Repair Cafe, is two years old this month.
The group will be celebrating by taking part in a national campaign, The Big Fix, having birthday cake with their coffee, and treating their volunteer team to a celebratory drink.
Organiser Billie Bachra, said: “It is so good to be able to mark our second year, and to see that the group is thriving.
“I saw a Reading repair cafe in action, and wanted to set something similar up in Spencers Wood.
“It has taken a lot of determination, and slow, steady progress to get to where we are now, but it has been worth it.
“At my first volunteer meeting, no-one turned up but I was so convinced that we needed to make this work and, little by little, it has.
“The cafe is such a lovely, friendly place that people want to come to, even if they don’t have anything to fix.”
Over the past two years, Spencers Wood Repair Cafe volunteers have welcomed more than 600 visitors and looked at 850 broken household items, with a 69% repair success rate.
As well as reducing landfill and waste, they work with young people, teaching them new skills, and helping them to embrace a culture of mending and reusing.
Lottery funding has enabled them to buy two portable appliance testing PAT devices, which allows them to safely test electrical items brought in for repair.
And they visit Guide and Scout groups and schools, helping young people to support wildlife by teaching them to build birdboxes from waste wood.
They have completed eight workshops, and 140 birdboxes already this year, with six more workshops planned for this term.
“We’re delighted that our second birthday coincides with Big Fix 2024,” continued Billie.
“Repair cafes all over the nation will be welcoming visitors and fixing broken items that would otherwise go to landfill.
“Our volunteers are a good team, and very supportive of each other.
“On our second birthday we’ll be serving celebratory cake with coffee, and at the end of the repair session we’re going to treat our lovely volunteers with a glass of bubbly.”
The group would love to hear from more people to help run the repair cafe and to become volunteer fixers.
They would also be grateful to hear from builders or fencing companies able to donate gravel board wood for the bird box workshops, and volunteers willing to cut the wood to size, and to deliver workshops.
Spencers Wood Repair Cafe meets on the third Sunday of the month, at Lambs Lane Primary School.
Their next meeting, and second birthday, is on Sunday, May 19.
Doors open from 10am until 1pm.
Repairs are undertaken for free, but donations are gratefully received to help support the group’s activities.
All are welcome, whether or not people have something to be fixed.
For information and to volunteer, visit: spencerswoodrepaircafe.co.uk, email: billie@spencerswoodrepaircafe.co.uk, or call: 07718 679827.
