A community initiative that was set up 10 years ago to repair items destined for landfill has won a BBC Three Counties accolade at their Make A Difference awards.
Started in 2016, the Bedford Repair Cafe was presented with the Environmental Award at the ceremony in Dunstable on Monday, 28 September.
It was a fitting accolade to coincide with the Repair Cafe’s tenth year of activity, during which time they have helped hundreds of Bedfordians mend their treasured possessions and diverted tonnes of items from landfill.
In 2016, the Bedford Repair Café started life as Bedpop Repair Shop, with a shout-out for local handy volunteers, sponsorship from local legends Goldings, and a venue at The Higgins, Bedford.
“As part of our programme of pop-up events in the town centre, we were always keen to bring new ideas to Bedford,” said Julia Course, who ran BedPop with Erica Roffe from 2014 to 2018.
“Repair cafes were already established in other towns, so when Arabel Lebrusan brought the concept to us, we knew it could work, as long as we found the right people.
“Luckily, as soon as we asked Katie Allen and Daniel Churchill, they shared our enthusiasm and totally ran with it. The rest is award-winning history.”
From strength to strength
Over the past 10 years, Bedford Repair Café has gone from strength to strength, changing name and venue, with help from Queens Park Community Organisation and funding from several local councillors.
The group has retained volunteers from the very beginning, and picked up plenty of fixing fanatics along the way.
They have also been nominated for the Bedford Independent’s Everyday Heroes awards over the years, scooping the Highly Commended award in the Raising the Profile of the Town category in 2022.
Volunteers range from fabric fiends to bike nerds, electrical tinkerers, patient jewellery fixers, and talented woodworkers, many taking part after attending repair café to have an item fixed themselves.
Organiser Katie Allen said: “After 10 years of events, the premise is still the same – Bedfordians are invited to bring one item each to be fixed by a local volunteer, completely for free.
“Stay with them, learn something new, have a cuppa and hopefully, catch the fixing bug.
“There are so many good outcomes from repair. It saves you money, helps the environment, and builds community.’
Speaking about the recent award, Katie said: “We were so proud to have been nominated and genuinely didn’t expect to win.
“I was thrilled for our volunteers to receive the recognition they deserve and it was wonderful to be part of such a celebratory event.”
“It’s great to see Bedford Repair Cafe celebrating their 10th anniversary. What a wonderful organisation,” said Tara Dolby, award organiser for BBC Three Counties Radio.
“And to see them walking onto the stage to collect their award was fabulous. It was a tough category, but the judges all thought they were an amazing entry. Here’s to the next 10 years.”
Ordinary items; extraordinary stories
Unlike the BBC’s Repair Shop, Bedford Repair Café fixers are more likely to see mundane items – the most frequent culprit being vacuum cleaners – often being the victims of planned obsolescence.
However, even the most ordinary items often spark interesting conversations, evoking memories or opening a discussion about how products are made.
Volunteer fixer, Katya, helped repair a 60-year-old ironing board which had originally been a wedding present.
“The board had a built-in seat, and the owner clearly liked the design enough to keep it for 60 years, and wanted to have many more happy years of ironing with it,” said Katya.
“Some of my other favourite items have been a 100-year-old gramophone, a six-foot Mickey Mouse, kitchen scales and equipment that has been passed down through generations, and lots of well-loved dollies and teddies.”
If you want to find out more about Bedford Repair Café, they currently hold fixing events at Project 229 in Kempston, with dates posted on their social media channels and on their website.
Bedford Repair Café offers one repair per household at each event, and can help with textiles, bikes, electricals, woodwork, and costume jewellery.
Repairs are free but financial donations are gratefully accepted to cover running costs.
“We’re also always looking out for new volunteers,” said Katie.
“So if you think you could help, we’d love to hear from you. Please email bedfordrepaircafe@gmail.com to find out more.”
