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Repair Cafés around the world celebrate a big birthday

  • by JW

Next Sidmouth Repair Café – Saturday 25th January!

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Entering its seventh year, the Sidmouth Repair Café is now becoming a well-established part of life in the Sid Valley, meeting once a month and offering people help in fixing things from toasters to teddies.

And the ever-increasing growth of Repair Cafés means that there are now more Devon Repair Cafés than ever – many of which are part of the Community Action Groups Devon.

The bigger Repair Café movement has been around twice as long as the Sidmouth Café – and 15 years of Repair Cafés has been exuberantly celebrated in The Hague, with a huge gathering of fixers late last year, including presentations and films and the like to show the impact of this phenomenon.

They looked at a popular TV series for children which is all about “repair and second chances”, with half a million primary school pupils using teaching material accompanying the series.

They also learnt that a team from Philips incorporates the new “reparability requirements” into the design of new products. And the mayor of The Hague spoke highly of both the environmental and social aspects of Repair Cafés.

Those involved in the Sidmouth Repair Café, from volunteers to visitors, are similarly inspired by what it’s all about.

At the last session, one visitor was glad to see how the fixers can keep things going: “ Very impressed with the way the service operates to help those of us who struggle with modern technology.”

It’s not just the fixing but the social side of the Repair Café which impresses too, as one visitor said: “Being able to try and fix something that had hope! Also having a chat with knowledgeable people.”

And a regular comment has been: “Friendly people to be around!”

So, if you have anything (‘anything’) that needs a little TLC, do come round to the St Francis Church Hall on Woolbrook Road this coming Saturday 25th January between 10am and 1pm, and the team of fixers will see what they can do to help you mend it.