Beeston’s inaugural Repair Café, held on Saturday 6th May was a great success where 29 items were repaired, and several people were given advice about what to do to get their items fixed.
It was a long time in planning – from the general interest inspired by the BBC’s Repair Shop, through conversations at Broxtowe’s Green Festival and elsewhere, and then the news that a group of people over in Sherwood had successfully run a repair event. The idea grew that it would be great to do something here in Beeston, where people could bring items from their homes which someone with know-how could repair and restore to use, so that they didn’t need to be thrown away and added to the mountain of landfill. A small group went to a meeting in Sherwood, where the focus was on how to set up a Repair Café, and then in February a group from Beeston went across to Sherwood to observe one in action.
After this, planning began in earnest. A date was agreed, a venue found, serious thought was given to issues such as finance, publicity, electrical health and safety and, most importantly, fixers were recruited.
Through the network of friends and acquaintances across Beeston, we found people who could mend or restore furniture, bicycles, table lamps, clothes, baskets, computers, printers, toasters…. The list of items which lay in various states of disrepair around people’s homes seemed almost endless. All they needed was a bit of TLC, a touch of know-how and a commitment to doing what could be done to keep them in use, rather than discarding them and replacing them with something new and possibly quite expensive.
We found a small army of people who could provide all three! And cakes of course… If we were to run a Repair Café we would need cakes! Volunteer bakers were swiftly recruited, too.
The event was held at Beeston Methodist Church, which we shared with a plant-swap event run by Greening Beeston, adding to the strong sense of community. Most of our “customers” had booked a slot in advance, though we also had some people who turned up on spec. Most, but not all items were repaired; for some of those which weren’t advice was given about what could be done, and how. Feedback was very positive: ‘This item was broken in a drawer for 6 years, and now it’s fixed!’ – ‘Thank you for saving my toaster from landfill’ – ‘Wonderful staff’ – ‘Great advice on getting the right tools’ – ‘Amazing to see all these skilled people coming together to help community & planet’ – ‘Great to believe that things can be repaired!’
It was a great community event, where lots of people made vital contributions. Thanks to Beeston Methodist Church for the venue, to Nottinghamshire County Council for financial support, and to the community of fixers, helpers and organisers who made it all happen.
The great news is, they’ll be back on Saturday 15th July from 2 – 4pm.
Please pre-book if you want to bring something for repair, via this link: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/beeston-repair-cafe-tickets-643627646617
Written by Peter Bone – The Beeston Fixers