The family at the heart of Darlington’s thriving environmental movement are not afraid to get their hands dirty and take some very practical action. They are the force behind the town’s Fix It Café, where you can take along that wonky umbrella, jammed ancient video player or the lad’s ripped Spiderman bag and get them all mended.
Matthew Snedker is a local Green Party councillor while partner Cat McConnachie and daughter Ellie are active in the Borough’s flourishing ecological movement. As recycling awareness increases, they are in constant demand. Spare time is limited. But they make sure that, on the last Saturday of every month, they have a two-hour date with the owners of faulty or broken goods that need replacing or mending.
It’s when they and a trusty group of volunteer repairers pull out all the stops to save money and the planet. Why add to landfill and emissions from manufacturing and transport if a few judicious turns of a screwdriver can fix a lopsided lawnmower?
Cat is the organiser. She was sewing a handle back on a child’s Spiderman bag but looked up to say:
“We like to think we are helping to save the world, stitch by stitch! Single use of resources is an existential threat to the entire planet and Fix It Cafés like ours help to reduce landfill mountains and increase demand for the right to repair.
“They help reduce consumerism and the harmful emissions that it causes both through mechanisation of manufacturing and the delivery of goods to our homes. They can even help with the cost of living. A mended kettle means people don’t have to pay for a new one.”
Repair Cafés
Repair Cafés were founded in 2009 by Dutch journalist Martine Postma, who organised the first event in Amsterdam. Now they are a global phenomenon. In the North East, as well as Darlington, they operate in Middlesbrough, Durham, Stokesley, Northallerton, Gateshead and elsewhere. Customers don’t have to pay but many give what they feel they can afford.
Volunteers like Stuart Van Praag, Terry Storey, and Beverley Lawson enjoy sharing their skills and offering advice on what to do if they can’t solve the problem on the day. Beverley broke from helping a customer with an embroidery problem to say:
“We can teach people how to repair zips themselves, for instance, so they don’t need to buy a new pair of jeans. Or we can tell them where to go locally if they need more complicated help, so we don’t take away custom from Darlington businesses.”
Stuart and Terry, like Cat’s daughter Ellie, are electronics experts. Deep in the innards of a laptop, Stuart shouts to Ellie: “Have you got a soldering iron?” Across the room, Councillor Matthew Snedker fiddles with the wires of an umbrella.
Asked what was her favourite fix-it, Cat pauses, then:
“It was a little girl’s wind-up toy figure of Cinderella and Prince Charming. We got them dancing again!
“We champion the Right to Repair, which is a global movement pushing to ensure consumers can easily and affordably fix products they own, rather than being forced to replace them.”
The next Darlington Fix It Café will be at The Hub, Darlington Friends’ Meeting House in Skinnergate, from 1.30pm to 3.30pm on Saturday, 25 July.
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