Pop-up repair cafe gives new lease of life to South Cambridgeshire residents’ items

Take a look at the schedule of planned pop-ups, helping promote sustainabilty in the region.

South Cambridgeshire’s first repair cafe of 2017 has been hailed a success with many local residents getting broken items fixed instead of buying replacements in the sales.

The event in Girton saw a team of multi-skilled volunteers give a number of damaged and broken household belongings a new lease of life, including three bikes, two vacuum cleaners, four scalextric cars, a clock, radio, dehumidifier, and moth damaged jumper.

Supported by South Cambridgeshire District Council and local charities Cambridge Carbon Footprint and Transition Cambridge, the roving repair café network aims to help tackle the rise of the throwaway culture, reducing the number of items going to waste, saving people money and preserving repair know-how.

Cllr Mark Howell, South Cambridgeshire District Council’s cabinet member, with responsibility for waste and recycling, said: “We have been really pleased with the popularity of the repair cafes and blown away by the amazing support from local volunteer repairers, who are also keen to share their knowledge and skills. The cafes have been building momentum since we launched the network last year and our first café of 2017 was a real hive of activity.

“This time of year, after Christmas and ahead of the spring clean, we throw away a lot, including things that could be given a new lease of life with a simple fix. Repair cafés aim to change all that, diverting more items from landfill and changing people’s mind set from throwing things to fixing things.”

The next repair cafés scheduled to take place include:

• Scout HQ behind the Memorial Hall, Great Shelford, Saturday 28 January, 2pm to 5pm,

• Community Centre, Cottenham, Saturday 4 February, 10am to 2pm

• Market Hill Rooms, Royston, Sunday 5 February, 10am to 1pm

• St Andrew’s Centre, Histon, Saturday 4 March, 10.30am to 1.30pm

• Free Church, Sawston, Saturday 25 March, 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm

If you have any tired or broken items needing a new lease of life, from small household appliances, electrical items, computers and mobile phones to bicycles, clothes, gadgets and general bits ‘n’ bobs, book them in to be sure of a slot, or just turn up on the day.