Catherine Causley, winner of the 2019 LARAC Award for Outstanding Contribution to Recycling, has recently been busy on the next Big Fix project - BIG FIX 2020 - UK wide.
Following on from Recycle Devon's 2019 The Big Fix when 40 volunteers broke the record for most items ever repaired in one day - 268!
This year they are taking it bigger, better and UK wide. Over 75 Repair Cafes from across the UK have joined forces to host special Big Fix events up and down the country on Saturday 15th February. The aim is to fix as many broken items as possible and save 60 tonnes of CO2.
Run by the community, for the community, these events not only provide repair services but also provide spaces for people to come together for a chat, preventing social isolation and passing on skills.
Join the Repair Revolution - from sewing to bicycles, hoovers and laptops, dig out your broken bits and bring them to your nearest participating Repair Cafe. With all the declarations around climate change and the need to decrease disposal rates, this community project has hidden benefits for and beyond the waste and recycling sector.
On Tuesday 21 January Catherine initiated a mass launch on social media to spread the word about the 75 repair cafes that will be taking part in this 'world first' project. She says: 'Never has there been a repair event attempted on this scale before.'
The Recycle Devon Facebook page is showing a short video about the Big Fix 2020 and what they hope to achieve.
But in her own words, Catherine explains briefly the idea, and hopes you will get on board, wherever you are in the country.
"The idea was to promote the wonderful work that the repair cafes do and to try and spread the word about them. As you all know repair cafes are about so much more than just fixing stuff, they are about building community, passing on skills and preventing social isolation, whilst having fun and fixing stuff. They are also very good at keeping repairable items, out of the bin!
I am pleased to announce that we have been joined in this mission by several groups who are part of the Restart Project. They run Restart Parties which are similar to repair cafes but attract a slightly different audience and focus on teaching the person to fix their own tech. A great resource that complements the work the repair cafes do.
I have been sharing this for a couple of days and the response has been phenomenal, everyone is really keen to find out more.
So good luck and if you do get featured in your local paper, please let me know." catherine.causley@devon.gov.uk
