THE BIG FIX 2022 is a scheme set up to create Britain’s biggest ‘Repair Cafe’ – featuring hundreds of volunteers across the country participating in a nationwide day of repair events on Saturday 14th May.
Repair Cafes are free events open to the whole community, where you can get help fixing a variety of broken household items including bikes, computers, clothing and electricals.
Run by skilled volunteers, the aim of the events is to reduce waste but also to pass on important skills and provide a space for people to get to know their neighbours. There are tools and advice on hand, as well as hot drinks (and often cake).
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The Repair Cafe movement began in the Netherlands in 2009 and there are now 2,000 Repair Cafes worldwide, nearly 100 across the UK and five in Greater Manchester – with more on the way!
To coincide with this year’s BIG FIX 2022, Stitched Up, the team behind Manchester’s first-ever Repair Cafe set up in 2016, are launching a NEW Repair Cafe in Stretford.
Kicking things off on Saturday 14th May from 10am – 12pm, the new Stretford Repair Cafe will then take place on the second Saturday of every month in the legendary Stretford Mall.
Bryony Moore from Stitched Up says: “Repair Cafes offer a way to challenge our throw-away culture, while also getting to know your neighbours and having a good chat. At our previous events, about 70% of the items brought in were fixed on the day. ”
“We’re so excited to be bringing these brilliant events to the Stretford community – to help people save a bit of money, learn something new and keep things out of landfill. If you’ve never been to a Repair Cafe before, we’d encourage you to come down and find out what it’s all about.”
Volunteers are indispensable to Repair Cafes and the team behind the Stretford event would love to hear from anyone who’s interested in helping out. Skills in fixing things (clothing/textiles, mechanical/electrical items, bikes or anything else) are always needed, but by no means essential – they also need help with organising and hosting the events.
Alfred Chow, a repair enthusiast who has been volunteering his skills at Repair Cafes across Greater Manchester since 2016, says: “I love sharing my skills and giving people the confidence to see broken things as repairable.”
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“Repair Cafes help people to realise that many items are not as scary or difficult to repair as they might have thought. This often prompts people to consider what they buy in the future, and their role in helping to reduce the waste created by short life consumer goods.”
If you’d like to find out more about the Repair Cafe or volunteering your skills, you can contact the organisers on their Facebook page below, or give them a ring on 0161 881 7141.
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Stretford’s Repair Cafe
Date: Saturday 14th May (Then every second Saturday of the month)
Time: 10am – 12pm
Cost: FREE
Venue: Stitched Up, Stretford Mall
Tags:
Events New opening
