York repair café 'sharing skills and also sharing company'

Michael Reakes enjoys repairing electrical appliances and took apart a broken kettle to diagnose the problem

There was a 'make do and mend' spirit at the repair café as people arrived with trailers loaded with tools, sewing machines in thick canvas bags and boxes of electrical appliances that could be cannibalised for parts.

The Groves Repair and Share in York takes place at St Thomas's Church hall, in a neighbourhood close to the city centre and York St John University.

Organiser Clare Willis made a round of teas and coffees - the venue is also a warm space for people struggling with rising energy costs - as the volunteers began to greet their first visitors.

Biomedical sciences student Robyn Slater patches up a hole in a pair of child's leggings

Robyn Slater sat behind her sewing machine pinning a fabric patch over a hole in a pair of child's leggings.

She had already repaired a leather bag and chatted to a woman as she altered her favourite dress for her.

The 22-year-old said: "The number one thing is generations coming together."

The biomedical sciences student from Scunthorpe said sewing was her hobby and she also uses her skills to make gowns for drag queens.

"When I was younger I couldn't afford the things I wanted so I made them," she said.

Her motivation for volunteering at the café is partly environmental but also to help ease cost of living pressures by learning to repair household items and fix problems herself.

"If I was starting university now, I couldn't afford the rent, £185 per week is the average in York now," she said.

Jenny Gwynne, who took her broken kettle to the repair café, with volunteer Olivier Dunard

On the other side of the church hall, Olivier Dunard worked on a kettle that would not stop boiling - the automatic shut-off button had broken and it was not repairable.

"I'm sorry for your loss," he smiled at the owner as he handed it back.

It was the first time the 53-year-old, had volunteered at the repair café. He first came in as a customer with a broken jigsaw tool.

"It's a bit frustrating when we can't repair things but we had a success with fixing a lamp earlier, we don't win every time," he said.

Jenny Gwynne said she was "delighted" to have found the repair café and even though her kettle couldn't be saved, volunteers offered her a replacement from their store of items.

"I would definitely come here again," she said. "I know people to help with computers, but who would I ask to fix a kettle? They are seen as disposable items."

Louise Barker did a degree in fashion and puts her skills to work repairing the pocket of a jacket

Fashion graduate Louise Barker examined an orange brocade sofa cushion cover with a huge rip running from corner to corner.

Most people would think it was unsalvageable but Louise began to pin it together: "I can pretty much fix anything."

She moved to York a year ago and said the café had been a good way of settling into her community while using her skills to help people.

"I'm big on the reduce, reuse, recycle thing, it's a good all-round project," she said.

Clare Willis runs the Repair and Share Café in The Groves with Mickey Storey

Organiser Clare calls herself an "artful botcher" and has plans to expand the group's work to help people with household jobs, such as bleeding radiators and changing bulbs.

"It's about not letting people fall through the gaps and that includes their things. We want them to know there's a community of people here that can help fix things and bring people together, sharing skills but also sharing company."