Repair Cafés in the UK have got the hang of it: after the report from Repair Café Nunhead in early November, we received yet another story, this time from Melanie Lesser of Bury St Edmunds Repair Café. Read why two brothers are specifically looking forward to their Christmas holiday this year, thanks to the volunteers of this Repair Café.
Repair Café fixes things and restores memories
“The Repair Café in Bury St Edmunds runs every two months, and we have recently had our most successful event with around 40 items and eight repairers. Last month’s café’s heart-warming story was of two brothers and an electronic quiz show game they remember playing as children in the 1980’s. Theirs is long gone, but one of the brothers bought the game on eBay as a surprise for the other, but it didn’t work. They bought another one to see if they could make one good one out of the two broken ones, but that proved too complicated for them.
This is exactly the kind of challenge we love at the Repair Café. Ben and Alastair got out their soldering irons and their multimeters and set to work. In pretty short order “Mr Gameshow” was talking, waving his microphone and flashing his (frankly alarming) teeth once more.
Sharing the fun with their families at Christmas
The two brothers (on the left in the photo) were delighted. Not only had we restored their childhood memory, but they also said it was going to make their Christmas as they could share the fun they had with their own families.
It is this kind of stories that make our volunteers give up their free time so selflessly. Bringing things back to life and sharing in the joy that this resurrection can give to the owner of the once-broken item is simply great. And then there are always home-made cakes, coffee, tea and a chance to sit and chat and enjoy the bustling atmosphere. We love our Repair Café!”
Please could you give me the date of the next Repair Cafe in Bury St Edmunds. Thank you.
Dear Vivien, please ask the local organiser about this. Good luck!