Summer is in full swing, and Circular Scarborough have taken the opportunity to try new things, hosting their first Repair Café in the town as part of their Circular Towns project.
A Repair Café is a simple idea – a community space, such as a workshop or village hall, is opened for a day, with people from the local community offering their skills to help fix broken furniture, electrical or mechanical items, and clothing or textiles. What’s on offer depends on the local skills base available, but Repair Cafes offer a vital space to learn and exchange skills, and prevent items going to landfill, helping create a circular economy.
Scarborough’s Repair Café, was hosted by CaVCA, who head up the Circular Scarborough project, at their headquarters, The Street, and welcomed repairers from Bikeabout, Material Moves, the Community Furniture Store, and Jennings Computer Services, whilst Bloom Bakery provided the refreshments. The event was held in conjunction with Yorkshire Circular Lab from the University of Leeds, who are one of the key organisations helping Yorkshire move towards a circular economy.
The event was a real success, with a range of items, including bikes, tools, and furniture finding a new lease of life – and bringing the community together at the same time. Circular economy initiatives like Repair Cafes can help residents save money, reuse and share items, creating more connected, fairer, more equitable communities. David Stone, the project lead for Circular Scarborough, agreed:
“It’s a great way for people to make their resources stretch further. If you can fix something, and you’ve got the knowledge and confidence to do that then you’re going to save money. It’s got the added benefit of old items not being sent to landfill and all the carbon emissions that would go into a new product you would buy aren’t produced.”
There are more Repair Cafes planned for Scarborough, with the next being planned for Great Big Green Week, a nationwide celebration of community action to tackle climate change. Great Big Green Week will be running September 24th to October 2nd, and there are already lots of events planned, including a beach clean-ups in Scarborough and Filey, bulb-planting in Valley Gardens, and Ryedale Eco Fair in Malton.
Creating a buzz
One of the events will focus on a new arrival at CaVCA – a hive of bees that have recently taken up residence on the roof of The Street! Bees are vital to the health of many of our native plants and wider ecosystems, and CaVCA’s Mel Bonney will be working with local beekeepers Kathy Bushell to ensure the new colony thrives.
CaVCA are keen to get as many people involved in Great Big Green Week, so if you fancy running an event, you’ve got a #randomactofgreenness to share, or if you’re a local business with a green and sustainable vision, get in contact with david.stone@cavca.org.uk to get started.
Circular Towns
As the climate crisis becomes more apparent, we need to find ways of working with the planet, making best use of what we already have, and limiting our use of natural resources to allow them to recover. Our Circular Towns project aims to help bring this approach into a community setting, and deliver social benefits as well, creating greener, fairer, and stronger towns and villages across the region. If you’re interested and want to get involved with the Circular Towns project, contact Erin Wheeler, Circular Economy Officer, erin.wheeler@ynylep.com.