RESIDENTS having a spring clear-out are likely to uncover more than a few broken items in their homes – toasters that have lost their magnets and won’t stay down, hair dryers with damaged filaments, and bicycles that won’t go.
In the past these might have gone to landfill, but soon they will be able to enjoy a new lease of life, thanks to a group of volunteer fixers.
Wokingham Repair Cafe will shortly be the place for items that need mending.
A team of technicians there will do their best to restore them to working order.
The new Wokingham eco venture is being run in conjunction with Maya’s Refillables Zero Waste Shop and Sustainability Hub, Wokingham In Bloom, and All Saints SpaceForAll.
Maya Gheorghe of Maya’s Refillables, said: “I’d been wanting to get a repair cafe going for about five years, but setting up the shop, the pandemic, and just being a one woman band, meant it had to wait.
“Then Hannah (Reverend Higginson, associate priest at All Saints Church) came into my shop one day as a customer.
“I remembered that the church had held a series of Walter Lectures last year on sustainability, and I asked her whether All Saints would be interested in setting up a repair cafe.”
Members of the congregation were already talking about exactly the same thing, so Revd Higgionson invited Maya to link in with the management team.
Maya, Wokingham In Bloom, All Saints Church, and the cafe repair team have together been planning the launch of the new venture.
“There is a real appetite in the community to make this work, and it’s very exciting,” continued Maya.
“We now have 30 volunteers, which is great, but we still need more so that we can cover every month with a rota of fixers.
“People interested in joining the team can fill out a form on the website, and there’s also one for people with unusual repairs.
“If you use this to send in photos or details, the volunteers can see in advance what tools they might need to bring with them to the next repair cafe.”
The number of repair cafes in the country is growing as people rediscover the joy of repairing.
Not only is it better for people’s pockets, reducing the need to buy replacements, it is better for a sustainable future.
Repairs cut CO2 emissions and avoid unnecessary landfill waste.
They’re also a great way to learn new skills, as people are able to watch fixers at work, and even help with the repair.
All sorts of things can be mended: electrical items such as kettles, lamps, and drills; cooking pans, ironing boards, televisions, belts, chairs, toys and games, bikes, costume jewellery, and clocks.
Items are checked, and either repaired on the spot if possible, or if replacement parts are needed, booked in for a future repair cafe event.
The event will run monthly, at All Saints Church on the second Saturday of each month.
Repairs are carried out for free, with donations welcomed.
The first Wokingham Repair Cafe will take place at All Saints Church’s recently refurbished SpaceForAll cafe, on Saturday, April 13, 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
