A monthly repair cafe is in the process of being set up in Ivybridge, which will mean that local people will be able to bring their broken items to the repair shop, be assigned a Fixer with the right skill set, and then work together to fix the item over a cup of tea.

Nadine, who is helping to set up the cafe, explained that the cafe is run by volunteers and funded by donations, “so it really is a community initiative.”

Nadine explained the thinking behind the cafe stemmed from the idea of creating a bridge between ‘The store’, Ivybridge’s share shop where they have “a stash of tools”, and ‘Makers mews’, an arts venue with co-working space and a classroom, where they have “a stash of skills”, so it was the perfect opportunity to merge and utilise these resources. They were inspired by similar local schemes, and have received advice from RepairCafe.org and “locally from the ever helpful Andrew: part of the team running Ashburton’s Repair Cafe”.

The cafe is in its early stages of development, but the creators hope that it will be big hit with the community. They are currently looking for Fixers, with a ‘Find Our Fixers’ campaign, and held an event on Saturday to encourage local people to get involved.

Nadine said, “the uptake and meetings we’ve had so far have been really lovely experiences; so I’ve high hopes for the Ivybridge Community coming together to establish and sustain a Repair Cafe for each other.”

The repair cafe is coming at a crucial time, as many households are struggling due to increases in the cost-of-living, but for the founders, this wasn’t an idea solely based on the current crisis. Nadine said, “for some of us there’s always been a ‘cost of living crisis… be that individuals having the capacity to earn enough to make ends meet, or more broadly, our apparent determination to consume more than we need from finite resources.” Nevertheless, for many locals, this scheme will be a great help given the current climate.

Donations towards the cafe will “be used to enhance the Repair Cafe experience- buying equipment for popular fixes, or hosting classes to teach popular repair requests- tool sharpening or zip mending, for example.” The team “are currently channeling donations to fund a PAT testing machine (and the associated qualifications to use it) to allow electrical items to safely be among those in the repair pile; also a hot water urn to supply the tea/coffee; and any stationary needed to provide the necessary administrative duties.”

There are many roles required in the cafe, from helping to fix appliances to running the tea station, and individuals that are interested in bringing the cafe to life, or letting the team know about fixing services they may offer can contact [email protected]. Those interested in donating tools or equipment to the share shop, or funding or sponsoring the teams efforts, can contact [email protected], and those who would like to join The Store team or find out more about doing so, can contact [email protected].