We are lucky enough in Faringdon to have charity shops, tailors, DIY shops, the Farcycles shop and garages. At the Pump House Project, we collect clothes to recycle them. Facebook Market Place, Gumtree, Preloved and other sites recycle second-hand items online in vast numbers.
And yet, as a society, we throw away 155,000 tonnes per year of small electrical items alone, the second-highest rate in the world. While the UK has reduced home-generated carbon emissions by more than 40% since 1990, the carbon we generate in other countries (by importing products manufactured overseas) has only been reduced by 16%.
Every time a Repair Café fixes something, Surrey University estimates we save 24Kg of Co2, mostly, through not having to buy more imported items. Their 2017 study of 13 repair cafes attempting 2,800 repairs showed there is very little wrong with half the items we might throw away.
Repair Cafés are springing up all over the place; Stanford in the Vale, Wantage, Oxford, and Swindon. Now, a few people at the Pump House Project, and at One Planet Clanfield, are setting up our own.
Here’s where and when the Repair Café will be popping up near you…
- 2 April, 9.30am-11.30am: The Pump House Project, Faringdon.
- 21 May: Carter Institute, Clanfield.
- 25 June: Pump House Project, Faringdon.
We’re looking for volunteer repairers who can fix anything from clothes, electrical appliances, and garden machinery to clocks, furniture, woodwork, and computers. If you can spare two hours on a Saturday every two months, give us a call – you might even learn a thing or two from others just like you.
Alternatively, if you have a household item you need fixing, bring it to the Repair Café and we will do our best to help. If we can’t fix it, we’ll tell you why and advise on what to do next – we charge nothing for repairs or advice, and only ask for voluntary donations.
Did we mention tea/coffee and cake is on sale as well? Come on down!
Email: info@thepumphouseproject.org.uk
Website: thepumphouseproject.org.uk
Facebook: @ThePumpHouseProject
