Get your damaged possessions repaired at Derbyshire village's Repair Cafe this Saturday

Residents from Tupton set up the village's Repair Cafe to provide a cost effective, environmentally friendly alternative for people throwing away their damaged possessions.

In exchange for a small donation, residents and others from the surrounding communities can bring in broken or damaged items or possessions to be repaired by a group of skilled repairers. Those people will be offered a hot drink and cake while the repairs take place.

John Cooper, the group’s administrator, explained that the Repair Cafe aims to prevent waste from going into landfills and to save people money.

He said: “Recycling is one of the key drivers for us setting this up. If you go up to the tip in Chesterfield anytime, the amount of stuff that is just getting thrown away is unbelievable. If we can prevent a few things from going into those big skips, then we think this is worthwhile.”

The Repair Cafe takes place on the second Saturday of every month at Tupton Rugby Club on the north side.

People handy with electronics, wood repairs, computers, needles, and threads will be at the club between 9.30am and 11.30am this Saturday as the village's repair cafe opens its doors for its third session.

John said: “Ordinary people haven’t got the skills or machinery these days.”

John’s wife, Heather, is the acting chairperson of the group. Heather is handy with a sewing kit, helping out with repairs to clothes and soft toys. She believes the Repair Cafe is a good way to give back to the local community.

Heather said: “It’s a really nice feeling in the community that we are doing things for people in the village and the wider area.

“They’re coming in and having a drink while their stuff is being repaired, and it’s a wonderful atmosphere.”

Highlighting how cost-effective Repair Cafes can be, Heather talked about a woman who will be bringing in an anorak with a broken zip.

She said: “The actual coat is absolutely fine; it’s just the zip that’s gone. Rather than somebody having to go out and buy a whole new coat, we will try and repair the zip or replace it."

The husband and wife said that the idea to bring a Repair Cafe to Tupton partly came from seeing other repair cafe schemes successfully implemented locally. It is still a relatively new project, and the group is keen to grow.

Heather and John gave a special thank you to Margaret Hersee, who runs the Chesterfield Repair Cafe.

John said: “She has been invaluable and extremely helpful, helping us to set this up. The Chesterfield repair cafe has been going for about 15 years, so she’s helped us and pointed us in the right direction.”

The family also offered their thanks to Tupton Rugby Club for providing their venue as a location for the cafe, Dianne Whyman, their social media manager, and Jenny Arnold, one of their seamstresses.

Tupton Repair Cafe is looking for anyone eager to join their repair team. People can contact them on their Facebook group.