Pop-up Repair Café comes to Amersham

Do you own something that is broken, bent or ‘on the blink’ but you don’t know how to fix it?

Then why not come along to FCC Environment’s first pop-up Repair Café on Saturday 12 February. From 10am-1pm there will be a team of volunteer repairers at St. Michael’s Church, Amersham, ready to help people fix their things.

Taking a lead from the popular BBC series The Repair Shop, the pop-up Repair Café is a free meeting place that creates a space where people can learn from experts to repair items for themselves. You’ll find tools and materials to help you repair your clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, appliances, toys, etc. You’ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields.

“We throw away vast amounts of stuff” said Gemma Green, Buckinghamshire Waste Awareness & Education Manager for FCC Environment. “Even things with almost nothing wrong, and which could get a new lease on life after a simple repair. Last year alone 1,261 tonnes of electrical items and 749 tonnes of textiles were recycled at Buckinghamshire Household Recycling Centres, many of these items could have been mended and used again and again.

“TV shows such as Money for Nothing and The Repair Shop are helping to make repair more popular, which is great as repair doesn’t just save you money; you are also helping to reduce the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products. Manufacturing new products – and even recycling old ones – causes CO2 to be released, so you will be helping to reduce emissions too!”

Peter Strachan, Buckinghamshire Council’s’ Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment, commented: “There is already an established network of repairers across Buckinghamshire such as the seven Repair Cafés, The Men in Sheds and The Repair Barn who all do brilliant work. FCC Environment’s pop-up repair events will greatly benefit those parts of Buckinghamshire that do not currently have a Repair Café in place, sharing mending skills and making it easier for residents to access repair services across the county. I hope the pop-up Repair Café in Amersham is the first of many!”

James Reseigh, FCC Environment HRC Contract Manager for Buckinghamshire added: “FCC Environment and Buckinghamshire Council are pleased to support the café by providing PAT testing training to upskill volunteers and FCC staff to help on the day. We are grateful to everyone who is giving their time to help fix items and pass on their repair skills as without them the pop-up cafés would not be possible.”

If you have something that needs fixing just pop along on the day. You may have to wait to see a repairer but there will be free tea and coffee available throughout the event and free parking at the rear of the building.

If would like to volunteer your time as a repairer, please contact Gemma.Green@fccenvironment for further details.

Get involved and take part in the ‘Reuse and Repair Revolution’ taking over Buckinghamshire!