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.