2nd Repair Cafe update!

We are excited that our second repair cafe saw a doubling of customers bringing with them a wide range of items including binoculars, bikes, kettles, laptops, clothes, radios, garden tools and spectacles. It was wonderful to see our volunteer repairers collaborating on problems and sharing ideas for fixing; learning was certainly taking place and not just amongst the customers!

Emergency sewing machine repairer Hannah stepped in at the eleventh hour when Sally’s original replacement was herself taken ill. And it was lucky that she could come as jeans were the hot ticket in the sewing corner. With a little help from YouTube, they were swiftly repaired to the customers’ satisfaction.

It was a tale of two halves on electrical items with one kettle fully restored to working order but another deemed unfixable. And it was a similar story with the radios that were brought in. A garden leaf blower was successfully restored to working order, somewhat startling the regular cafe customers when it suddenly roared back into life.  

One lucky customer got two of their broken items fixed as they patiently waited for a second turn with one of our friendly repairers. We are sure that the delicious coffee and cake from our onsite café assisted their impressive endurance!

Another two customers are planning to return next month as the problems with their items were successfully diagnosed so they know which replacement parts to purchase and our repairers know which tools to bring to the next repair cafe.

Sadly all the repairers who attempted the challenge were defeated by a corroded battery that was stuck inside the shaft of a thirty-year old Maglite. The owner went away determined to persevere at home, we wish her success!

On the bike section this week Sophy had her handle bars re-taped and two very grateful children had their bikes’ brakes adjusted and the gears tuned leading them to remark that it was “like having a new bike” on the journey home. Thanks Peter!

In the final hour a set of glasses and a pair of binoculars were repaired by Karl from EYEYE ethical opticians meaning that all the repairers enjoyed a share of success at the latest Repair Cafe.

Each time an item is successfully repaired it saves an item from landfill and saves our customers money. Repair Café could not happen without our skilled and treasured volunteer repairers and we thank them for all their time and energy.

See you at the next one on 11th December and happy fixing in the meantime!