If it’s broken, don’t throw it away yet – perhaps it can be fixed at the Woking Repair Café!

Woking Environment Action (WEAct) holds a repair café every month, when volunteers offer free repairs for small household electrical, mechanical and furniture items, as well as ceramics, toys, clothing and textiles.

It alternates between four local venues. The next session is this Saturday (8 February) at Andy's Community Café in St Andrew’s Church, Goldsworth Park, where Woking Repair Café was launched in June 2023. The three other venues are Old Woking Community Centre, St Mary’s Community Centre in Byfleet, and Trinity Methodist Church in Brewery Road.

Ellen Pirie, co-chair of WEAct, revealed: “Across the 20 events we have now held we have had 1,198 items and were able to fix 878 – over 73%. We identified another 183 items as fixable by others, taking the items ‘saved’ to over 88%.

“Our data shows we have prevented 2,034kg of waste going into landfill as well as reducing greenhouse gases by 20,524kg. That’s roughly equivalent to driving 50,800 miles – around the world twice!

”We also now have a ceramics specialist fixer who is amazingly good at repairing broken ornaments and fixers who can sharpen scissors and garden tools such as secateurs and shears.”

Items repaired have included furniture, clothing and toys, as well as many electrical items such as vacuum cleaners, lamps, coffee grinders, CD players, radios, toasters and hairdryers.

Janey Jux, also of WEAct, said: “To give our fixers a chance to assess what’s coming in and make sure they bring the right tools, we ask visitors, to email [email protected] beforehand with what they plan to bring.

“Our fixers have great skills and are very enthusiastic. They also gave advice to visitors and have even kindly agreed to take a few items home to finish off.”

Patrick Coad, community and youth worker at St Andrew’s, said: “We usually have around 70 visitors to the repair café in Andy’s Community Café, each with the hope of restoring their cherished items. We look forward to welcoming them again with our warm hospitality and our supportive community.

“The partnership with the repair café is an important part of St Andrew’s Church’s commitment to care for planet Earth by reducing waste, reflecting the good news the church is called to share. It reflects part of the Diocese of Guildford Diocese’s vision and strategy, ‘Growing Community’: to care for the Earth and reduce carbon emissions across its communities.”

Janey recalled there were months of planning before the Woking Repair Café was launched. “Woking Borough Council asked WEAct in January 2023 if we would be interested in starting a repair café in Woking. We asked for volunteers on social media and an article in the Woking News and Mail.

“St Andrew’s Church contacted us to say it had been thinking of starting its own repair café so we teamed with them as our launch venue in June 2023.”

The Woking Repair Café this Saturday runs from 10am to 1pm. Doors close at 12.30pm. Andy's Community Café is within St Andrew’s Church at Goldsworth Park Centre in Denton Way (GU21 3LG).

Only items that can be carried by one person can be accepted and no petrol-driven items should be brought for safety reasons.

Details of other upcoming Woking Repair Café dates and locations plus other details can be found online at wokingenvironmentaction.com/woking-repair-cafe