Repair cafe to pop up in centre of Town
A SERIES of pop-up repair cafes will be taking place in Town, hosted by The Clean Earth Trust, for people to take their damaged or broken clothes, household goods and small electrical items to be mended by skilled and experienced volunteers.
The trust is expanding to welcome Guernsey Clothes Swap into its team, which will be running alongside the repair cafes.
Participating in the swap costs £2 and people are invited to contribute wearable quality women’s and men’s wear, shoes and accessories.
For pieces that are in good condition, but in need of slight repairs, volunteer seamstresses will be on hand to fix them before being entered into the swap.
‘We want to make repairing accessible to everyone and an integral part of daily life, so the first thought when something breaks is to fix it, instead of throwing it away and buying new,’ said Helen Quin, the trust’s head of operations.
The new event has been made possible by recent funding via Guernsey Electricity’s Power to the People scheme and the Social Investment Fund, which has also meant the trust is working towards obtaining a permanent workshop.
‘The trust is growing at pace and welcoming the Guernsey Clothes Swap into the team continues to bring the repair, reuse and repurpose message to life,’ said Mrs Quin.
Guernsey Clothes Swap founder Jenny Murphy came up with the idea to make the island more environmentally conscious.
‘It has become really popular, with hundreds of items of clothing swapped and kept out of landfill in the last two years. We’re really pleased to be coming under the Clean Earth Trust banner, as our ethos fits firmly within their vision,’ she said.
The first repair cafe is tomorrow and will be held on the first Saturday of every month, from 10.30am to 2pm on the second floor of the new Health Connections store in Market Square.
. To allow time for repairs, participants are asked to book a ticket in advance on Eventbrite, https://bit.ly/3gVUm0j
