On the first Saturday of every month, the hall of St Anselm's church in Millbrook fills with broken things. Lamps that no longer light, jeans with torn knees, a vacuum cleaner that has stopped sucking, a child's teddy bear with one ear hanging by a thread. By the end of the afternoon most of them work again. The Millbrook Repair Café has just marked its first year, during which volunteers fixed just over 400 items.
The café was set up by retired electrician Clement Hargreaves and his neighbour, dressmaker Yetunde Morrow, who were frustrated at how much went to the tip. They now have a team of 22 volunteers, including a bicycle mechanic, a former television engineer, a furniture restorer and a teenager who repairs games consoles. Repairs are free, though most visitors leave a donation, and tea and cake are always on offer.
We do not just fix it for you. You sit with us and watch, and next time you might fix it yourself.
That principle is at the heart of the project, said Ms Morrow. Owners stay with their item while it is repaired and are encouraged to hold the screwdriver or thread the needle. The volunteers keep a record of every repair. Around 70 per cent of items brought in have been fixed, and most of the rest were beyond economic repair or needed parts that were no longer made.
Small fixes, big savings
The most common problems are surprisingly simple: blown fuses, loose wires, worn drive belts and broken zips. Mr Hargreaves estimates that the year's repairs have kept around three tonnes of goods out of landfill. One visitor, Hedda Tranmere, brought in a sewing machine that had belonged to her mother and had not worked for a decade. "They oiled it, replaced a belt, and it was running in twenty minutes," she said.
The group has received a €4,000 grant from the city council's waste reduction fund to buy tools and equipment, and is looking for volunteers with skills in electronics and woodwork. The next session takes place this Saturday from 1pm to 4pm, and no booking is needed.