Uckfield Repair Cafe celebrates third birthday

The Repair Café at the Victoria Pavilion Uckfield started three years ago, and the band of around 20 volunteers now regularly work on a variety of broken items brought to them, typically 50 or so items persession, achieving an impressive 90% successful repair rate!

The Cafe's Tim Benians said: "Everything from teddy bears, toasters and clocks to furniture, clothing and iPads, we turn our hand to all the challenges that our customers bring in. We welcome almost anything that comes through our door, in fact we have become so popular that space can sometimes be an issue.

"We have skilled technicians experienced in many areas, electrics,electronics, computers, fabrics, mechanics, wood and metalwork, so that between us we can usually find the fault and fix it."

The Uckfield group is just one of many local Repair Cafés, which also include Forest Row, Chailey, Lindfield, Crowborough, Lewes, and Horam.They meet on the fourth Saturday of the month (except December),deliberately staggering openings with the other cafes, so that urgent repairs can usually be achieved on any weekend within the local area.

Tim went on: "The Repair Café movement began 15 years ago in Amsterdam, and has spread to around 3,200 groups globally. With new locations opening every year it won’t be long before there’s a Repair Café in every community. Not only saving folk buying new things, but also saving resources, and ultimately doing our bit for our planet; it’s not surprising the concept has become so popular worldwide.

"As the name implies we are also a café, serving our visitors tea and coffee as well as delicious cakes and our now famous home-made sausage rolls, including vegan options. We are entirely funded by voluntary donations from our grateful customers to help cover our overheads,tools, spares and materials.

"Our next café is on January 25, what will you bring us? Find us at the Victoria Pleasure Ground (TN22 5DJ) from 9.30-1 (with last orders at noon)on the fourth Saturday of the month. For more information find us on FaceBook and Instagram, as well aswww.sussexsupportservice.com/repaircafe or phone us on: 01825 760176."