Tring Repair Café

Tring’s Repair Café has been operating since January this year. Here’s an update on what they’ve been getting up to. In the first 6 months, they fixed over 100 objects and gave advice on spare parts etc. on more than 30 items. The café’s band of over 20 volunteer repairers have done a wonderful job. They don’t charge, but donations from satisfied customers have meant they’ve also raised £325 for Red Cross Ukraine and local Ukrainian Refugees.

Repairs so far have included anything from a Father Christmas whose ability to sing and dance had been lost, to the many toasters, hoovers and lamps that have been the most common items together with various sewing repairs. The café’s work reduces the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products. It cuts CO2 emissions, because manufacturing new products and recycling old ones causes CO2 to be released.

The café now also has an IT support volunteer called Andy, who will give help with using mobiles or tablets. Just the job to solve all those ‘how do I’ questions. When Andy retired, she ran a group for the U3A showing people how to get the best out of the cameras on their mobiles and tablets. It became apparent that people were struggling with a lot of basic use of their phones, so Andy offered to join the café to offer her services to Tring.

If you don’t need any repairs just now, you can call in for a coffee and chat and watch the repairers at work. Repair skills are being lost, so come and learn from the volunteers who really enjoy the challenge and satisfaction of bringing things back to life.

Tring Repair Café is open on the third Saturday of every month at High Street Baptist Church Hall 10.30am-1pm.

This is a Tring in Transition initiative sponsored by Dacorum Borough Council.