Do you like to Volunteer?

We want to run our local Repair Cafés on a more regular basis. Can you help?

How you can help? We need more co-ordinators and reception/café support to join the team to help organise and run the cafés.

What’s involved? Co-ordinator: help plan the cafes, liaise with our volunteer fixers and support team, help promote event via posters and social media, facilitate the ‘flow’ at the café. Reception/Café support: help set up/clear away, welcome, explain process, book items in, offer refreshments.

All roles are flexible and can be done as and when you have time to offer. Training/support is offered for the roles.

If you’d like to find out more either email greeningchinnor@gmail.com or come along to our Repair Café on Saturday 13th November for an informal chat and look about.

Spring Community Litter Pick - CANCELLED

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!

Next Orchard Working Party

The next Donkey Lane Community Orchard working party will be on Saturday 8th February 2020 1:00 pm - 16:00 pm. It is quite wet and muddy in the lane so please make sure you wear suitable footwear. Bring some tools if you have them and a cup for refreshments.

This month we will be putting together plans for each of the apple trees and carrying on with clearing the ivy.

New volunteers and visitors are always welcome, please pop in and find out what we're doing.

Big Fix 2020 - Chinnor Repair Cafe

Repair Cafe Meeting

22nd January 2020 7:30 pm at The Village Centre, High Street, Chinnor, OX39 4DH

Are you interested in finding out about Repair Cafés and how you can get involved? Why not come along to our Repair Café meeting and meet up with like-minded people and help plan our next Repair Café for the 15th February. We are always looking for fixers and volunteers of all kinds and this is your opportunity to find out about it!

Our Repair Cafés are not a big commitment; our events are just 3 hours long, with some set-up and take-down on either end. It’s not expected that you come to every repair session, although some of our volunteers do – and why not, as it’s really fun! Come along on Wednesday and find out more.

Big Fix 2020 day of repair events

On Saturday 15th February, we are joining hundreds of volunteers at the 75 repair cafes that will be taking part in this world first. Never has there been a repair event attempted on this scale before.

To find out more about The Big Fix 2020, check out this video https://www.facebook.com/RecycleDevon/videos/3170000679694270/

So...

• Do you like to fix and tinker with things?
• Would you like to have a go at fixing broken household goods that folk bring into the repair café and teach them the art of repair?
• Specialist and all-round skills welcome in fixing household items such as clothing/textiles, jewellery, books, shoes, bikes, small furniture, computers, mobiles, electronics, small appliances and more!

Why not volunteer as one of our Fixers?

We would also love it if you could run a workshop on basic repair and maintenance skills. We reckon it would be great to teach people how to look after their stuff before things break or wear out.

Help Host a Repair Session

We are also looking for volunteers to provide general support at our events or behind the scene.

Tasks to help with include event planning and set-up, visitor registration, refreshments (e.g. offering coffee or baked goods around to folk), promotion/communications, photography/video, etc.

Are you a keen social media user? We’d love your assistance in promoting us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and the like, we would like to hear from you.

Email Linda at greeningchinnor@gmail.com to register your interest.

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.

Repair café – Local Repair Businesses

Greening Chinnor run local repair cafés in Chinnor, our next one being on Saturday 23rd November at Chinnor Village Hall and we would like to promote local repair companies at the café.

As you may or may not be aware, repair cafés are not about taking business away from local businesses but are a tool to promote repair and passing on skills. We have our fixers who will do what they can, but we cannot guarantee that we can fix an item, plus we only have a limited time when the café is open.

We are keen to promote local repair businesses and bring them into this process. To this end, we are putting together a list of local repair businesses that we can promote to our visitors if there is an item that is too complicated or outside our scope. If you run such a business and would be interested in being on our repair companies list, please contact me at greeningchinnor@gmail.com.

If you are interested in coming along and either helping us or just to have a look please feel free to do so. You will be made more than welcome.

Next Chinnor Repair Café

Our next Repair Café will be held on Saturday 23rd November at Chinnor Village Hall 10:00 am – 1:00 pm (last item accepted 12:30 pm).

You can bring any small household electrical item (e.g. kettle, radio, hifi, lamp, food mixers, etc). All electrical items, if accepted will have a safety test carried out before return. Please don’t bring white goods or anything you can’t carry. You can also bring toys and mechanical items. We probably won’t have spare parts, but hopefully will be able to recommend what is needed. We have our fixers who will do what they can, but we cannot offer any guarantee that we can fix an item.

You can bring any broken item that needs gluing – e.g. china, plastic toys etc. We will have various kinds of glue such as araldite, super glue, etc.

You can bring clothes or textiles that need a little stitching whether they’re clothes, bags, accessories, cushion covers, blankets or other fabric items and our team of seamstresses will see what they can do.

This is a brilliant way to make a difference in reducing your ‘waste’ whilst learning how you can make simple repairs. It’s also a great social event where everybody is chatting and sharing experiences and ideas.

This is a free event, although donations towards running the event would be appreciated.

We are keen to increase our pool of fixers and helpers so we can help more people at each event. Please get in touch if you have skills to share to help our event be successful and run smoothly. If you are interested either pick up the phone and give me a call on 07973 788339 or email me at greeningchinnor@gmail.com

Repair Cafe

Autumn Community Litter Pick

On the 27th October we carried out our 16th Community Litter Pick and were delighted with the turn out despite it coinciding with the Welsh Rugby semi-final and clock change day. We were very pleased that again the weather was kind to us and we had a beautiful blue sky. It was lovely to see new (and old) faces and we were particularly pleased with all the families that joined us.

We were able to litter pick most of our most popular footpaths and play areas and were particularly pleased that there was a marked improvement in the level of rubbish found in most areas. Special mention must go to the residents of Old Kiln Lakes who are now really keeping the area litter free.

We will, as usual, be organising a Spring Community Pick, details will be published shortly.

Station Road Community Garden Planters

The planters have now been winterised and the worn out plants removed. There's been some pruning and tidying with some nice fresh compost and winter Rainbow Chard planted.

The three small adjacent planters have been removed for the winter and will be back in the spring when we start next year's planting.

Autumn Litter Pick

Donkey Lane Community Orchard

Our next orchard working party will be on Tuesday 15 October 2019 10.00 – 13.00 at the orchard.

How to find us: head up Keens Lane, cross at the railway crossing into Donkey Lane. The orchard is on the right hand side. Tools and safety equipment supplied. Bring a cup for refreshments.

If you'd like to find out more about how you can join or support this project, contact me via the listed options or come along to a working party and have a chat with us.

Autumn Programme of Events

24 September 2019 | General Greening Chinnor Meeting | The Games Room, The Village Centre, High St, Chinnor OX39 4DH | @ 19:30. We will be discussing our ongoing projects and plans for the future. Come and see how you can get involved in some exciting and rewarding volunteering activities. All welcome.

15 October 2019 | Donkey Lane Community Orchard Working Party | 11:00 - 13:00 at the orchard. For directions, see below.

19 October 2019 | Donkey Lane Community Orchard Autumn Apple Event | 14:00 - 16:00 at the orchard.  Come and join us and explore the orchard whilst having some fun and refreshments. There will be apple themed games and bakes. Free entrance - donations towards costs welcome.

20 October 2019 | Station Road Community Garden Winter Planting & Tidy up | Station Road, Chinnor | 10:30 - 11:30. Help us winterize the garden and plant up for the winter. Come and have a chat and find out about the planters. 

27 October 2019 | Autumn Community Litter Pick | Meet at White's Field Car Park, Mill Lane, Chinnor | 10:00 - 12:30.

20 November 2019 | Donkey Lane Community Orchard Meeting | White's Field Community Hall, Mill Lane, Chinnor, Oxon, OX39 4RF | 19:30 - 21:30 | All welcome.

23 November 2019 | Repair Cafe | Village Hall, Church Road, Chinnor, OX39 4PQ | 10:00-13:00 last item accepted 12:30. Free entrance, free repairs – donations towards costs welcome.

As always we are looking for volunteers who would like to get involved in either mending things or to help organise and facilitate the Repair Cafe. We have lots of different roles and different types of involvement. If you want to find out more, please feel free to contact me.

How to find the orchard: Head up Keen's Lane, Chinnor, cross the railway crossing and the orchard is directly on the right hand side. The working parties are to help regenerate and restore the ancient orchard and to explore the social history of the site. Bring some tools if you have them and a cup so you can have some refreshments.

Station Road Community Planters

There has been an amazing crop of tomatoes in the Station Road Community planters. Help yourselves -  they are for picking. 

We were pleasantly surprised to see that our three planters have been joined by three siblings. If the person(s) who built and stocked them could contact Greening Chinnor (greeningchinnor@gmail.com) then we can make sure that next year we can coordinate our joint efforts. 

The autumn and winter restocking will take place at the end of October.

Here's an interesting volunteering opportunity

Volunteers wanted for pioneer Chilterns headwater Study - 'Water in a Dry Landscape'

If you are interested in the springs and streams of the Chilterns and can commit to helping with quarterly water-quality surveys, the Chilterns Conservation Board (CCB) would like to hear from you.

The CCB has been awarded Heritage Lottery Funding for a major series of projects, including ‘Water in a Dry Landscape’ (WDL). In recent years, a lot of attention has been given to the chalk streams of the dip slope – rivers such as the Chess and the Misbourne – but the springs, headwaters and streams draining the scarp slope have been largely overlooked and under-appreciated. WDL, with your help, will change that.

Volunteers, are needed to work in small teams carrying out water quality surveys at up to 8 sites four times over the course of a year. Equipment and training will be provided. The data arising will be used to identify the best aquatic sites on the scarp. These will then be surveyed by specialists for their flora and fauna. Your survey results will also help to identify locations for practical works to improve biodiversity and water quality.

So, if you would like to be part of this ground-breaking study discovering the hidden value of the Chilterns’ springs and streams, please get in touch with Mike Furness, who is co-ordinating the project on behalf of CCB (mfurness@chilternsaonb.org, 07422 501619).

The survey period is expected to run from August 2019 to June 2020. Training is planned for 20th July (morning) at Wendover and 25th July (evening) in Princes Risborough. In total, more than forty sites will be studied by five teams of volunteer surveyors, who will be using the equipment provided to assess a range of parameters on site, reporting the data back to Mike for collation and analysis.

No special skills are needed as full training will be given, but you will need to be able to get to some remote locations, sometimes involving a bit of a walk, and CCB would like you to commit, as far as is possible, to all four survey rounds.

If this sounds like you, please contact Mike on mfurness@chilternsaonb.org or call him on 07422 501619.

Donkey Lane Community Orchard Working Party

Our next orchard working party will be on Saturday 13th July 1:00 - 4:00 pm at the orchard with another arranged for Tuesday 6th August 10:00 am - 1:00 pm.

The main focus for the next few working parties is to keep nettles and brambles from areas already cleared.

How to find us: head up Keens Lane, cross at the railway crossing into Donkey Lane. The orchard is on the right hand side. Tools and safety equipment supplied. Bring a cup for refreshments.

If you'd like to find out more about how you can join or support this project, contact me via the listed options below or come along to the meeting or working parties and have a chat with us.