New 'Repair Café' to fix islanders a snack

Monday 12 October 2020

A new ‘repair café’ is currently being planned for St. Brelade, which would allow islanders to mend their broken items and build on their DIY skills, while enjoying a cuppa.

The project was the brainchild of Max Livesey and Simon Langlois, with input from Guernsey Repair Café founder Andrew Munro, and was backed by Constable Mike Jackson.

Proposals for the café shared with Express outlined how visitors would be able to “bring their broken items from home and sit with the specialist as they start the repair, participating in the process by helping where possible.”

It added the idea was “to encourage people to take ownership of the repair work, watch how it is done, and perhaps learn enough to have the confidence to repair things themselves in future, rather than replace them when they go wrong.”

Pictured: It is hoped there will be an area where visitors can read up on DIY too. 

The proposal lists “fabrics/clothing (for which we have the most volunteers), electronic/tech, electrical (with PAT testing), small mechanical, toys and furniture/wooden items” as potential items to undergo the Repair Café treatment. 

The café is set to open on Saturday 24 October at Communicare at 09:00.

Though this location will be short-term, with sessions currently proposed to run every two weeks, there are long-term plans for a more permanent home for the café.  

Speaking to Express, Constable Jackson, who got behind the project as part of the St. Brelade Climate Action group, said the café was all about being “social, environmental and educational.”

He added that he hoped people might bring a broken item from home then learn from their experience at the café and apply it to their own lives, instead of just throwing broken things away.