Repair Cafe 15th February 2020 & Big Fix 2020 Results

On Feb 15th we joined 65 other Repair Cafes across the country in the Big Fix 2020. This event was organised by Recycle Devon and as well as making this event Britain's Biggest Repair Cafe it aimed to raise awareness of the work carried out at Repair Cafe's.

First a piece about our Repair Cafe followed by the amazing results from the Big Fix 2020.

Well we were really amazed as to how popular our February Repair Cafe was. It was our biggest yet! We had so many people turning up with things that needed repair that at one time we were worried we’d have to close the doors.

Photo: Keith Webley

This time in addition to our lovely regular fixers, we had leather work and tool sharpening for the first time. This proved extremely useful for our group of seamstresses who were absolutely delighted to have their scissors sharpened and reset. In total we had:

Photo: Keith Webley

• 12 Fixers, 6 Facilitators/Helpers
• 76 items brought in for repair which kept our team of fixers busy for the whole session
• 87% items were either fixed or advice given (69 kg)
• 10 items failed to be fixed (27 kg)

Some of the more interesting and unusual items that were brought back to life included an extremely vintage sewing machine foot pedal (good stuff Ted), a couple of electric trains and some much loved Christmas lights. A huge thank you and well done to everybody who took part.We can only run these cafes with the support  of our Fixers and Helpers.

Photo: Keith Webley

Photo: Keith Webley

Big Fix 2020 Results

As you know our Repair Cafe was being run in conjunction with the Big Fix 2020 organised by Recycle Devon in and attempt to have the biggest Repair Cafe ever. Well we've fed our stats to the Big Fix and preliminary results of the day are:

• Number of participating Repair Cafés: 66
• Total fixes: 2253
• Total number of items brought : 2981
• 75.5% of total items able to be fixed
• 918 volunteers, fueled by 1748 cups of tea and coffee and 931 slices of cake
• 1974 attendees who brought items to be fixed

Breakdown by category

• Tool sharpening 14%
• Bikes 2%
• Other 19%
• Textiles 18%
• Electronic 8%
• Electrical 32%

Items that needed a part to be fixed 397
Items not fixed at the event 516

Estimated over £100,000 of consumer spending avoided
Estimated 45,000 – 55,000 kg of carbon avoided

A huge thank you to Catherine Causley for making this amazing event possible and to all 66 Repair Cafes around the UK.

Big Fix 2020 - Greening Chinnor Repair Cafe

We're really pleased to be taking part in the The Big Fix 2020. Chinnor will be 1 of 75 repair cafes that are happening across the country on the same day! Never has there been a repair event attempted on this scale before. The goal is to fix as many broken, worn and once loved possessions in a single morning.

The national event is being coordinated by Devon County Council in partnership with all participating repair cafes and follows the success of The Big Fix in Exeter last year when volunteers broke the record for the number of items repaired at a single repair café. You can find out more about the Big Fix 2020 here.  This is a lovely video from the Malvern Hills Repair Cafe which explains what a repair café is, what happens when you get there and what the rational behind them is. https://www.facebook.com/MalvernHillsRepairCafe/videos/895130800650253/

So, when and where:

Chinnor Village Hall, Chinnor, OX39 4PG. Doors open at 10:00 am last item accepted 12:30.

You can bring any household goods that you can carry and that needs repairing. No white goods please.

We have a team of sewing repairers, electrical and mechanical repairers and *STOP PRESS* for the first time ever we can offer sharpening skills too. Plus, our every popular 'Glue' table.

Please note that we can’t promise to repair. We will do our best and to advise on alternatives. Help us to help you! Please bring all parts that would help us test the repair such as: power cords, mains adaptors, CDs, remote controls, etc. If you would like to pre-register your broken item you can do so on our Registration Form.

So can you come along even if you don't have anything to repair? Yes!

We want to raise awareness of repairing and reusing instead of ‘throwing away’, so please come and watch volunteers perform the repairs and learn from them and help support us by having a cup of tea and cake. So come along and be part of history!

Big Fix 2020 - Chinnor Repair Cafe

Big Fix 2020 Greening Chinnor Repair Cafe

Save the date! 

Repair Cafes across the UK are uniting for Britain's Biggest Repair Cafe and Greening Chinnor will be part of it!!!!

On Saturday 15th February, we are joining hundreds of volunteers at Repair Cafes across the country as part of a nationwide day of repair events.

Run by the community, for the community, our Repair Cafe not only reduces waste but creates a place for people in Chinnor and the surrounding villages to come together to enjoy a cup of tea and share new skills that may otherwise be lost.

We are hosting a very special Repair Cafe on Saturday 15th at the Village Hall, Church Road, Chinnor OX39 4PQ from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm (last item accepted 12:30).

This will be our 5th Repair Cafe so please come and show your support and bring along your broken household items to be fixed! Save on expensive repair costs or if you're just not sure what’s wrong with it. We will have a look everything from electricals, lamps, vacuum cleaners, laptops, toys, sewing repairs! We can't guarantee we can fix it ... but we'll try.

#TheBigFix2020 - Join the Repair Revolution.

Repair Cafe - 23rd November 2019

What another great experience at our 4th Chinnor Repair Cafe held at the Village Hall on the 23rd November

It did seem to be a bit slow at times but it was steady and our Fixers had plenty to do.

Time to share some results, we had:

28 broken items brought in, of that 19 items were repaired, 6 items couldn't be repaired and for 3 of the items, appropriate advice was given. Well done team!

In all 51 kilos of broken items were brought to the cafe  – 41 kilos of which were electrical.

To give you an idea of the types of items we will have a go at, these were the items brought in:

2 food mixers, a blender, an iron, a formula dispenser, a CD player, a toaster, a clock, clock radio and radio, 3 table lamps, a floor lamp and 2 Dyson hand held vacuum cleaners! 

We also had a baby monitor, a telephone cable, a coat, 2 saucepans 1 for a handle repair and the other for a lid repair, a cushion that needed a bit of solder on the battery operation, a chair, a vacuum cleaner and then separately, a vacuum cleaner hose, an earring for gluing, a foot pump and a pair of slippers.

Not bad at all. 

We had some very positive feedback and some of the comments were: 

• Friendly, welcoming and very knowledgeable
• Please teach young people to preserve skills
• Such helpful people, very knowledgeable
• Speedy and efficient - very quick to repair
• Fantastic, great
• Absolutely loved it - very positive
• Wonderful
• Helpful advice

Special thanks to Tina for keeping us all well lubricated and to Sandy for ensuring the smooth flow of the process.

Our next Repair Café will be on Saturday 15th February 2020 which ties in with the The Big Fix 2020! The Big Fix is Britain’s BIGGEST repair cafe! All around the country, fixers are gathering on 15th Feb to fix more items in one day than ever before. I think this will be an extra special event. I hope that we will see you there!

If you would like to get involved either as a Fixer, Facilitator or helping out on refreshments, please email me at greeningchinnor@gmail.com.