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Littleport Repair Cafe
On a cold day towards the end of April 2024 Littleport and Ely Timebank held their first Repair Cafe in the wonderful Adams Heritage Centre on the Main Street in Littleport, East Cambridgeshire. The seed was sown when Stephen Little, one of the organisers of the Littleport & Ely Timebank, attended an event organised by the East Cambridgeshire Climate Action Network in September 2023, where Nicole Barton of Cambridge Carbon Footprint and the Cambridgeshire Repair Cafe Network explained the many benefits of Repair Cafes and how to set one up.
This first event had 20 people with 24 items requiring the help of 5 repairers and an Advisor.
Repair Cafes are community events that match people who need items repaired with people who like fixing things. The international Repair Cafe movement began in Amsterdam, and now there are over two thousand around the world. Repair Cafes are non-commercial and the repairs are done free-of-charge, although voluntary donations are very welcome. There are no promises and no guarantees, but if something can be saved the repairers will do their very best. Repairers are always keen to teach visitors how to do the repair themselves, or at least have them watch while they do it. The items brought along for repair can include clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, tools, toys, and much more.
Following the success of this first cafe there are plans to set up another in Littleport in a few months times.
Photographs from the First Littleport Repair Cafe
