News / Sea Mills
New repair cafe opens in north Bristol
Residents of north Bristol now have an alternative to throwing away items when they become broken or damaged.
A much-requested repair cafe, run by the Sea Mills and Coombe Dingle Climate Action Group, has opened at the Methodist Church on Sea Mills Square.
The Sea Mills Repair Cafe will run once a month, and users will be able to bring their small items along and get them fixed for free or by giving a donation.
is needed now More than ever
Charlie Bridgeman repairs a coffee grinder for Anna Ellams at the opening of the Sea Mills Repair Cafe – photo: Heather Keats
The first session was opened by local MP Darren Jones who, appropriately, mended a ribbon with a needle and thread rather than cutting it.
One of the forty people through the door was Anna Ellams who brought her coffee grinder, which she says she couldn’t bring herself to throw away.
“It’s been broken for at least six months, just sitting in my cupboard, waiting for something like this to happen,” she said of the new repair cafe.
Teacher and mum-of-two, Esther Wilcox, was delighted to find somewhere local and convenient to repair some trousers that needed patching.
She added: “These have been sitting in a bag at home. I may have had a go at it myself eventually but I’d probably have botched it.”
Emma Hopton patches a pair of jeans during the first cafe session inside a Methodist church – photo: Heather Keats
Forty million tonnes of electronic waste are generated worldwide each year, so it should be no surprise that small electrical items were amongst the most numerous to be brought in. Sewing repairs were also extremely popular.
On the first day, 14 items were repaired and a further four people were given advice on how to repair their items at home or what to buy in order to have it repaired at the next cafe session.
Repairer Emma Hopton was one of those happy to volunteer her time and was kept busy mending books and textile items.
She said: “I mended a little girl’s sun hat and she was thrilled. It’s great to show kids that stuff can be repaired and be almost good as new.”
The idea for the Sea Mills Repair Cafe came from two residents, Jan Coddington and Ella Davies, who joined forces with the local climate action group group to make it happen.
Jan remembers people using their ingenuity and being less wasteful when she was growing up, and hopes that the new repair cafe will be “a service to the community for a long time, and help the environment too”.
Mary Milton is reporting on Sea Mills as part of Bristol24/7’s community reporter scheme, a project which aims to tell stories from areas of Bristol traditionally under-served by the mainstream media
Main photo: Heather Keats
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