SWINDON’S popular Repair Café opens its doors again on Sunday and anyone who needs help to fix anything is invited to bring it along to the Savernake Street Social Hall between 2pm and 5pm.

Whether it’s a shirt without a button, a broken ornament or maybe even a bike or laptop in need of attention, there will be a host of volunteers on hand who are coming together to help stitch, glue, drill and patch.

The army of people with repair skills get together regularly to try to encourage people to repair and reuse rather than throw things away that are likely to end up in landfill.

The Mobile Cycle Medic will be presenting a talk at 3pm on the subject How to love your bike.

He will also be offering bike repairs and security marking thanks to support from Community Moves.

Items repaired at the previous cafés have included laptops, musical instruments, drawers, sofa covers and tools.

The only items that can’t be attempted are anything electrical.

The Repair Café is an international concept, brought to Swindon by resident Dave Foster, in partnership with Eastcott Community Organisation, the group which manages Savernake Street Social Hall.

The first events took place in October and November last year and were both a runaway success with people flocking to take advice on how to rescue broken items.

Dave says he has been very happy with the events so far and he is looking forward to opening again on Sunday.

“Building on the success of the first two cafés, we’re delighted that the idea has gone down so well with the local community,” he said.

“It’s been fun and rewarding and it has helped keep a large amount of otherwise useless things out of landfill.

“We’re spreading the word about the repair mentality and we’re looking forward to continuing the good work.”

“Most things can be repaired and given another life, and by doing that it keeps more things out of landfill.

"We are very good at manufacturing things because all of that work is carried out by machines, but when it comes to repairing something that is when it gets more expensive because that requires a person to actually do the job.”

The event doesn’t just focus on repairing broken items, there’s also plenty of opportunity for a chat over a cup of tea and cake.

Although there is no charge for attending the event on Sunday, donations are encouraged for repairs, to enable the event to become sustainable after its £200 New Shoots grant is utilised.

And the invitation to attend extends to those who may not even have anything to repair.

“Everyone is welcome to come and support the venture,” said Dave.

For further information about the event search for “Swindon Repair Café” on Facebook or, alternatively, contact eastcottcommunity@yahoo.co.uk.