Zero Waste North West and The Fashion & Textile Design Centre have partnered to develop an exciting new pop up Repair Cafe Foyle project that aims to tackle waste whilst bringing communities together. Thanks to funding from The National Lottery ‘Together for our planet’ fund, ‘Repair Cafe Foyle’ will travel around the Derry & Strabane District Council Area on a monthly basis with their team of fixers, makers and menders to lend their hands at mending your broken stuff – for free!
From small household electrical items, to toys and mechanicals, woodwork, textiles, and bicycles courtesy of LifeCycles – the Repair Cafe Foyle Team are willing to give it a go! Event organisers are encouraging the public to rethink their relationship with broken or damaged items, before committing them to landfill.
“Coming along to a repair cafe is a form of climate action” says Zero Waste North West volunteer, Caroline McGuinness-Brooks. “The Circularity Gap Report 2022 highlighted that over 90% of earth’s resources extracted and used are wasted. This trend is directly linked to consumption and the repair cafe movement is quite literally hitting the nail on the head when it comes to waste.”
Following the success of textile repair cafes at the Fashion & Textile Design Centre, Business Development Manager, Deidre Williams, commented that ‘sharing resources, energy and enthusiasm is key to a circular economy. Our designers and machinists are keen to get out into the community to help breathe new life back into old or damaged clothes and textiles.’
After taking guidance from Repair Cafe Belfast and with over 2200 repair cafes worldwide, Repair Cafe Foyle want to put their mark on the map and are asking anyone interested in becoming a volunteer to get in touch via email or to come along to one of the upcoming events to see what it’s all about.
Repair Cafe Volunteer, Marcella Di Palo, says that a “Repair Cafè is an extraordinary way of getting together people who are willing to give a second chance to things, and to change the way we live – not just as consumers, but as users and re-users”.
If you come to a Repair Cafe you can expect tea, cake and chat – you will be paired with a fixer and will sit with them whilst they try to mend your broken item. If your item can’t be repaired, then at least we’ve tried and everyone has had the opportunity to come together to share the story of stuff.
Upcoming Repair Cafe Dates & Locations:
Sat 28th May @ Creggan Country Park 10.30am-12.30pm
Sat 18th June @ Eglinton Community Hall 10.30am-12.30pm
Sat 23rd July @ 4R’s New To You 10.30am-12.30pm
Want to be a host venue or volunteer? Email [email protected]
