Repair Cafe set to take place in September

The next Repair Cafe is taking place in Bury St Edmunds in September.

Held at the Bridge Community Church, in Queen’s Road, it is set to be held on Saturday, September 12, from 10.30am to 1.30pm.

It comes at a time when the organisation is celebrating its legacy of “make do and mend” and how the Repair Café grew out of a wartime idea

In 1943, during the Second World War, the British Government introduced a clothing repair scheme called “Make do and mend” as cloth was in short supply.

We don’t live in a world of shortages any more – Earth.org estimates that we produce about 92 million tonnes of textile waste every year globally.

“Make do and mend” was targeted at women using their mascot “Mrs Sew and Sew”.

That targeting might seem dated now but remains good home economics to try to repair something rather than throw it away. No surprise that the Repair Café concept was invented by a woman, Martine Postma,

Th Repair Café, in Bury St Edmunds, has been operating for three years. The next will be its 20th.

From the very start, women have made up half of the team of volunteers, running the café, mending clothing, jewellery and electrical and mechanical items.

One recruit is still at school, working towards her GCSEs and a career in engineering and campaigning for active transport (walking, cycling) for travelling to school.

To book an appointing go to https://tally.so/r/3lyvqo or email repair.cafe.bse@gmail.com.