SKDT will start its own repair café
What do you do with a broken toaster, a wonky table or a jumper full of moth holes? Bin them? Not if South Kintyre Development Trust (SKDT) can help it.
The community anchor organisation is planning to launch Argyll’s first repair café, a free meeting place where people can bring broken items from home – toasters, lamps, hair dryers, clothes, bikes, toys, crockery... anything that is broken is welcome – and, with help from specialists, make their own repairs.
One day a week at SKDT Hall on Kirk Street, various volunteer repair experts will be available to help people make repairs free of charge, with tools and materials also available.
The repair café specialists almost always have the knowhow to fix things and, if not, they will be able to advise people on what to do next.
By promoting repairs, SKDT wants to help reduce mountains of waste, something that is “absolutely necessary”, according to trust manager Eric Spence.
“We throw away piles of stuff in Kintyre,” he said. “Even things which practically have nothing wrong with them, and which could easily be used again after a simple repair.
“Unfortunately, many people have forgotten that they can have things repaired. Repair café wants to change all that.”
Repair café is also meant to put neighbours in touch with each other in a new way, and help people discover that a lot of know-how and practical skills can be found close to home.
Eric added: “If you repair a kettle, a CD player or a pair of trousers together with a previously unfamiliar neighbour, you will look at that person in a different light the next time you run into them on the street. Jointly making repairs can lead to worthwhile contacts in the neighbourhood.”
He points out that repairs can save money and resources, and can help minimise CO2 emissions.
“But above all,” he added, “repair café just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is.”
SKDT is hoping to organise the weekly repair café from May 2023 and, as such, is looking for people who have experience in repairing things, whether it is clothing, mechanical items, electronic devices or household goods, who can spare a couple of hours a month, to come forward to offer their skills to benefit others while helping to cut down on waste and improving our local environment.
The SKDT team can be contacted via Facebook Messenger (@SKDT.org) or Eric can be contacted directly by emailing eric@skdt.org or calling 01586 552870.
The repair café concept arose in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 2009, and was formulated by Martine Postma, at the time a journalist/publicist.
In 2010, she started the Repair Café International Foundation, which provides professional support to local groups around the world wishing to start their own repair café, including in Campbeltown.