MAKE do and mend is the philosophy behind a repair cafe set to launch in Wellington early next year.

The move follows a successful Repair Cafe regularly held in Hemyock.

Now a small working group has been set up to launch the project in Wellington, along with Somerset Waste Partnership, which holds the Repair Cafe licence on behalf of the local community.

Now a venue has been booked for the first Repair cafe in Wellington on Saturday, February 16, next year – but more repairers are needed, especially people who can fix electrical items.

Holly Regan-Jones, of Transition Town Wellington and leader of the working group, said: “The idea behind repair cafe, launched some years ago in the Netherlands, is to reduce the amount of stuff that gets thrown away, by teaching people how to repair things and thus keep them in use.

“The scheme relies on experts giving a couple of hours of their time, a few times a year, at a convenient place to which people can bring items in need of repair. There’s no charge, although it’s customary to ask for donations towards the cost of holding the event.

“For Wellington, we already have a small pool of repairers who between them will deal with such things as garments, bicycles, electrical items and garden tools. While we have just about enough volunteers to be able to hold our first repair cafe, the evidence from Hemyock’s experience so far suggests that we really need to have more than one electrician.

“And so far, we haven’t come across anyone who’s happy working with clocks. Another suggestion was for someone able to repair children’s toys. If there are people in the local area with these kinds of skills, or any other repair skills, we’d love to hear from them.”

Anyone who feels they may be able to help should contact Holly on 01823 660161 or email [email protected].

Further information about the repair cafe movement can be found at www.repaircafe.org