Chesterfield Repair Café wants to help you fix it as part of national event

The café is one of dozens up and down the country opening its doors on Saturday, February 15 for residents who need something fixed.

Based at Chesterfield Baptist Church, on Cross Street, the café bids to upksill people and reduce the amount of items we either throw away or leave languishing in garages and attics.

Coordinator Margaret Hersee said: “We want to educate people that some things can be repaired. That’s why we encourage them to stay and have a drink while the item is repaired.

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“Then hopefully the next time they will see that maybe a wire is loose and they can fix it themselves.”

Most of the items taken along to the café are electrical, but Margaret says people are welcome to bring clothes which need a new zip, furniture or perhaps that tricky IKEA flat pack that you can’t get your head around.

She is also keen to see the younger generation embrace the idea of a repair café.

“People my age remember seeing repair shops but it is not something younger people are necessarily even aware of,” she said.

“The most difficult thing is having to tell people sometimes that we can’t fix their item. CD players, for example, are almost impossible to fix.”

The most popular items to be brought in are lamps, but volunteers have fixed everything from a plastic Christmas tree to a sieve which needed its handle soldering back on.

Margaret says the team is also keen to welcome new people to greet and assist visitors to the café as well as record the data on which items they are fixing.

The café will be open for the Big Fix from 10am-1pm on February 15 and will open once a month for the rest of the year.

For more information, contact the café here or visit the Transition Chesterfield website.