Make do and mend at Bristol’s Repair Cafe

With everybody from Kirstie Allsopp to Kevin McCloud extolling the virtues of make do and mend, upcycling is fast becoming the new recycling and shabby chic has never been more chic.

But a community collective in Fishponds goes further than sanding down old furniture and slapping it with Annie Sloan paint and kitsch drawer handles to achieve the desired vintage effect.

The Bristol Repair Cafe meets monthly at All Saints Church in Grove Road and pools practical knowledge, bringing Bristol’s fixers, tinkerers and menders out of the shadows so consumers see their possessions in a new light.

Rather than chucking out a wobbly chair, a broken toy, a moth-eaten jumper or a toaster that no longer works, visitors bring household items along so repairers can offer free advice on fixing a range of things with simple tools.

The volunteers are not necessarily professionals, but practical, experienced people happy to share their skills. 

The cafe was set up by Kate Jerrold, who runs Architectural Decor, an online antique door hardware shop with her partner. She has a passion for sustainability and a background in reclamation, having previously worked at Robert Mills in Eastville. 

Frustrated that she couldn’t fix her dishwasher herself, she scoured the web for practical advice to avoid shelling out for a new one.

“I saw a woman in Amsterdam had founded the first repair cafe and set up a non-profit organisation providing support to those wanting to start their own,” Kate said.

“It made me really cross that Bristol, which is this year’s European Green Capital, didn’t have one. But I realised I couldn’t just be cross about it and I actually needed to do something.

“It began in August 2013 with a few informal meetings but has become a monthly fixture. It’s all about building connections so that the knowledge of a talented few can be harnessed and shared.”

Kate believes every community has natural electricians, seamstresses, carpenters and bicycle mechanics whose skills are seen as having lost value in modern throwaway society. The cafes provide tools and materials so visitors can try their hand at repairing alongside those in the know or help with someone else’s repair job. 

Kate says they don’t intend to compete with professional repair specialists but just to prevent so many items being sent to the tip. Visitors are frequently advised to go to the few professionals still around.

“We might see a single mother whose hoover has broken and who can’t afford a new one but doesn’t know where to start fixing it, or people who would normally just throw away the broken item and replace it because they think having it repaired is too expensive. Now they know that things can be repaired at a reasonable cost, they’ll be more likely to visit a specialist.”

Kate hopes the idea will catch on and other communities in Bristol will follow suit.

“We’ve saved dozens of laptops, coffee machines, DAB radios and sewing machines from being sent to the tip at St Phillips which means they’re not being replaced, trucked off to Avonmouth and then sent to China, used for copper and incinerated. 

“It’s very easy to think you’re doing your bit for recycling by putting your plastic bottles in the green box, but actually we need to think long term about being part of the solution.”

The Repair Cafe is held on the first Saturday of each month, with the next taking place on March 7 at 10.30am. For more information, visit www.facebook.com/groups/bristolrepaircafe.