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Cafes that encourage customers to repair, reuse and refuel seek new volunteer fixers.

If you’re someone who enjoys fixing things, meeting people and helping the environment then the Peterborough Repair Cafés would like to hear from you.

Held monthly throughout the year, the cafés bring volunteers blessed with top-notch repairing skills together with people who own faulty or damaged items in need of fixing.

Current volunteer Jule Danby told the Peterborough Telegraph why the call has gone out now for more volunteers:

Volunteer repairer Scott - who designs and develop electronic hardware for a living - fixes a toaster at the Yaxley Repair Cafe and volunteers his skills to benefit the community.

“We’ve reached capacity,” she said, “we need to take on more repairers to get more things fixed.”

Julie suggested that the cost of living crisis may be adding to the increase in demand the cafe is experiencing:

“Everyone is being a bit more cautious with their money and wanting to repair things as opposed to buying new.”

The cafes’ volunteers help people with all manner of fixes, from mending portable electrical appliances and carrying out simple repairs on small pieces of furniture to patching up clothes or sharpening tools.

Volunteers help people with all manner of fixes, from mending portable electrical appliances and carrying out simple repairs on small pieces of furniture to patching up clothes or sharpening tools.

Customers are given time slots of up to one hour, depending on what their item is.

During that time, they see their item get fixed and learn the skills needed to carry out repairs at home – similar to hit BBC show, The Repair Shop.

One of the project’s current expert fixers, Scott, said he enjoyed helping out once a month as “it's a way I can use my skills to the benefit of the community.”

He added: “I get to meet people, hear their stories and sentiments they may have with particular items and it is very rewarding to see how many items we’re extending the useful lives of and preventing from going to landfill.”

The scheme works similarly to The Repair Shop on the BBC, hosted by Jay Blades where craftspeople come together to bring back memories they hold to life again (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

The level of commitment required depends on the volunteer role. The Repair Cafés run on the first Saturday of the month, and pop up at eight different venues across the city. Volunteers meet once or twice a month online in the evening, and some also carry out tasks in between times.

So what characteristics do the cafes look for in a volunteer?

“They’ve got to enjoy tea and cake,” Julie says: “there’s a lot of competition over who brings the best cake.”

Anyone interested in finding out more about volunteering can email [email protected] or visit the cafe’s Facebook page.

More volunteers needed at Peterborough’s Repair Cafés likened to BBC's The Repair Shop

So what characteristics do the cafes look for in a volunteer?