‘It is a great way to keep items from the dreaded landfill’

There has been a rise in community repair workshops in recent times, with the cost of living leading to people wanting items mended and environmental factors influencing the desire to not send them to landfill.

One of the newest repair shops has been launched in Yeovil and there was a successful first night of operation for the Yeovil Repair Workshop.

Somerset’s Alive! has spoken to one of the volunteers on that opening night, Alan Flint, about what made him want to be a part of the workshop’s operations and why other people should consider giving their time to be involved and what people can expect if they bring their broken items to see if they can be fixed up again.

Speaking about how he found out about the Yeovil Repair Workshop, Alan told us: “I was at the recent Earth Day celebration at Ninesprings when I saw a stall looking for people to volunteer for a community repair shop.

“As I repair aircraft parts for a living and I feel that far too many repairable household items get scrapped without any consideration of fixing them, I decided that I could help this situation.”

Alan thought that the idea was great and had this message for those wondering what the workshop could offer: “I would say to anyone thinking of using a repair shop, you have nothing to lose and could end up saving a lot of time and money by having your item looked at.”

After the initial night, Alan said that he was pleased to have been involved and enthused about similar operations being started.

Alan continued: “The first day I helped out at the Yeovil shop was very rewarding. I managed to fix a broken strimmer and have since heard that the owner is very pleased with the result.

“We can’t fix everything that we’re shown but between us we know enough to help the owner to do whatever is appropriate to solve the problem.

“I hope to see more operations like this, as they benefit everyone involved and keep broken appliances out of the dreaded landfill.”

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Alan concluded: “Big thanks to Rich for organising and everyone who gives their time and expertise to help this excellent operation.”

The organisers of the Yeovil Repair Workshop were delighted with the first night and in a post on Facebook, shared details of what was repaired and when the next workshop will be held.

They wrote: “A brilliant first event at the Yeovil Repair Workshop, some excellent challenges brought in such as vacuum cleaner, hedgetrimmer, garden lights, drill, bicycle, strimmer, apple keyboard, video recorder, iPod Dock and a dress to fix, so thank you to everyone who brought them in, our volunteers were really pleased to be able to have a look at them.

“Big shout out to Jo and the team from Holy Trinity Scout Group for their help running the cafe and finally, thanks to Beth from Somerset Waste for helping to spread the word about this wonderful initiative.

“Next workshop scheduled for Sunday 30th July, watch this space for further details.”