Don't buy new – repair and reuse with help of Axminster Repair Cafe

Local residents are invited to bring their broken household items to the Axminster Repair Café on Saturday, November 5 from 10am to 1pm at the town's Guildhall. 

Repair Cafés are community events where skilled volunteer repairers donate their time to help members of their local community fix broken household objects. After a successful debut event back in February 2020, the group has helped fix hundreds of items.

The goal is to fix as many broken, worn and once-useful things as possible and save them from landfill. Visitors can also enjoy a chat over a cup of tea and bacon roll or slice of cake.

Jemma Moran, Axminster Repair Café volunteer, said: "We love our monthly repair sessions, where the community comes together to help each other save money and breathe new life into everyday household objects that might otherwise go to waste.

"It's always such a joy to see faces light up as an old record player starts turning again or a much-loved toy gets sewn back together. We are trying to encourage a more sustainable society and, just as important, we are having fun doing it too.

"We're delighted to be able to offer the people of Axminster and the surrounding area the chance to get involved and we look forward to seeing as many faces as possible on Saturday, November 5."

More and more people are choosing repair and reuse instead of discarding or buying new. All sorts of items will be repaired at this event for a small, voluntary donation. These are often items which people may not be able to afford to get fixed or not sure how to do it themselves and are brought back to life and saved from the bin.

Participants are also encouraged to bring along any spare tools, which are no longer needed, so they can be re-homed or recycled. 

Axminster Repair Café are also looking for volunteer menders to join their growing team for future events. If you have skills in needlework, electrics, woodwork or other areas email [email protected]