Gosport repair charity receives support amidst search for a new location
Repair Cafe Gosport, a charity which aims to fix household items, has received a donation, as well as a visit from the Mayor at its first event in a new venue.
During the monthly event, held at Fort Brockhurst, the Repair Cafe received an oscilloscope, donated by ESWIN UK, an electrical manufacturing company.
Helen Mizon of ESWIN UK attended the event to present the donation to the volunteers.
Mizon said that when the company has equipment that is not of business use to them anymore, they offer to donate it to charities.
‘We try to reduce landfill,’ Mizon added, ‘it’s good to share it.’
In response to the donation, chair of the Repair Cafe, Keith Brady, said: ‘We are thankful to the generosity of ESWIN UK, who has donated test equipment to Repair Cafe Gosport.
‘Our volunteers are excited by the prospect of taking on more challenging repairs that previously would not have been possible without this type of advanced equipment, preventing more broken things from going to landfill.’
At the October Repair Cafe, volunteers helped to prevent 31 kg of waste and 215 kg of CO2 emissions. Of the 24 items brought to the Repair Cafe, 38% were fixed and 54% were diagnosed and the guest advised on the next steps to take to repair it.
This month, the Repair Cafe was not held in its usual venue in Hardway, instead being held at the 160-year-old Fort Brockhurst.
Cllr Richard Earle, the Mayor of Gosport, attended the event, and had helped to arrange the English Heritage Site as Repair Cafe’s venue for October.
Speaking on the importance of Fort Brockhurst, Cllr Earle said that it is ‘one of the best preserved Victorian forts in the whole country’.
He added that using historical sites for events such as the Repair Cafe helps to preserve them, and that preserving these important areas is his ‘passion’.
The Mayor spoke in support of the Repair Cafe, saying ‘[it is] such a brilliant idea, we live in a throw away society these days.
‘I’ve already had a talk about accommodating the Fort as a new venue.’
Keith Brady, chair of Repair Cafe Gosport said:
‘It has been fantastic to collaborate with English Heritage to use Fort Brockhurst bringing Repair Cafe to new parts of the Gosport Community today.’
The next Repair Cafe will be held on 9 November at Rowner Community Centre.
Repair Cafe Gosport is still seeking a permanent venue, but fortunately it is not going anywhere. Bookings for the November event can be made through the organisation’s website or Facebook page.