Heptonstall Repair Café Says “No” to ‘Throwaway Culture’.

Picture of Jordan Baker

Jordan Baker

Are you guilty of discarding or replacing items that have the potential to be easily fixed?

Heptonstall Repair Café, which runs every 2nd Saturday of the month 10 am -1 pm from Heptonstall Junior School sees amazing volunteers come together to offer their skills and services to help with repairs ranging from electrical items, mechanics and computers to bikes, clothing and textiles. As a thank you for their expertise, donations are kindly welcomed to support the running of the Repair Café.

Whilst attendees wait for their items to be repaired, light refreshments are available, such as wonderful homemade cakes, tea and coffee for a small, suggested donation of £2.50.

The Repair Café initiative was originally thought up by Martine Postma, who opened the first café in Amsterdam in 2009. There are now over 2,500 Repair Café’s serving their local communities worldwide.

Christine Jackson, a first-time attendee from Pecket Well visited the Heptonstall Repair Café with a jacket that need a new zip. She spoke of how valuable the initiative is to the community and how the re-claiming of old goods benefits the environment.

She was more than thrilled at the talent and promptness of Liz and Judith, members of the sewing team, who are both proud volunteers at the café and keen to take on a new challenge.

‘Throwaway Culture’ is something which is becoming more and more prevalent in our society -especially with the growth of fast fashion and the ease of next-day delivery -that we have forgotten to hold onto our most traditional and sustainable solutions. 

In a poll conducted by The First Mile, it was found that 22% of Brits are put off fixing their clothes because it’s easier to buy a replacement, and one in five (17%) said it’s cheaper to buy a replacement while 62% of people said they are deterred from repairing small faults because they simply don’t know how.[1]

However, the local people of the Upper Valley and wider Calderdale need not worry as the volunteers of Heptonstall Repair Café are here to give your once-damaged goods a new lease of life, ensuring items avoid the landfill.

Currently closed for the school holidays, the Heptonstall Repair Café will reopen for business on Saturday the 9th of September.

You can keep up to date via their Facebook Page or get in touch at heptonstallrepaircafe@gmail.com.

[1] The First Mile, The Nation’s Throwaway Culture

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You will receive a VAC Member welcome pack with useful information on getting the most out of your membership and a few extra treats!

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When you sign up to be a VAC Member, you will be assigned a Go-To Contact from the VAC team.

They will be your main point of contact for your membership, helping to answer questions and signposting you to the right place within VAC and/or our partnerships.

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To support VAC members to feel connected and informed, we have created a unique Member Area on the VAC Website.

The online dashboard will keep you and your colleagues up to date on the latest member opportunities, training and news.

The Member Area also has a forum function, allowing VAC Member organisations to interact and support each other.

A quarterly newsletter to keep our members up to date on not only VAC Membership updates and opportunities but also specifically created content on topics of interest to the local voluntary, community and social enterprise sector. 

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Based on feedback and insight we gain from our members, our training and events offer will complement local infrastructure support training programmes.

All sessions are cost effective and VCSE sector driven.