You flick on the fairy lights and half the string fizzles out. A bauble hits the floor and shatters. The dog chews something festive that absolutely wasn’t meant to be chewed. Instead of sprinting to buy replacements, there’s a far better option.
All over the country, people are gathering in warm halls and community centres to repair their Christmas clutter for free, share tea and cake, and feel, well, human again. More than 600 repair cafes now dot the UK, so chances are there’s one around the corner. And if not, you can always start one.
In East Sussex, Bryan McAlley has been running the Chailey Repair Cafe for eight years with a team of fellow volunteers, the oldest of whom is 93. They’re gearing up for a festive session in December. “We do a lot of carving knife sharpening at this time of year,” McAlley explains. The team tackles everything from broken decorations to battered kitchen kit, and every fix comes with a side of learning. “We insist that they sit and watch while we repair what they’ve brought, so they learn,” he adds.
