Plympton repair cafe mends 100 items in first year - saving them from landfill

Tthe cafe is run entirely by volunteers on a not-for-profit basis

A not-for-profit repair cafe staffed by volunteers has mended 100 items in its first year - saving them from landfill. Plympton Repair Cafe started up in January.

The cafe is based at Chaddlewood Farm Community Centre. Its aim is to be an antidote to the throw-away culture of modern life, repairing broken items so that they can live on rather than go to landfill.

The cafe runs from 1.30pm-3.30pm on the third Saturday of every month, except for December and August when the volunteers take a breather. Members of the public can bring any broken item except for bikes, scooters and skateboards and the volunteer fixers will take a look to see if it can be repaired.

There’s never any guarantee that an item is fixable but so far they have successfully repaired many much-loved items including a 50 year-old moving doll, a talking pirate, an Xbox (just in time for the summer holidays), some furniture and many favourite items of clothing. Repairs are free of charge but donations towards the running of the cafe are welcomed.

The cafe, however, is in urgent need of volunteers to continue this good work. They would love to hear from anyone who enjoys toying and tinkering with broken items, particularly anyone with a working knowledge of electrical items, but also people with organisational skills, general repair skills, sewing skills, or knowledge of jewellery or clock repairs.

Volunteers don’t need to be experts and will be working alongside other volunteers. There is no need to commit to every session so it’s a lovely, sociable and relaxed way to get support a good cause.

Just get in touch with plymptonrepaircafe@gmail.com to find out more.