'We're delighted our first repair cafe helped so many people - and we'll be even busier next time!'
An old stereo, a Nerf gun, solar garden lights, and kitchen scales were just some of the items brought back to life for grateful visitors at an all-new repair cafe event.
Newport Town Council held its first repair cafe on Saturday, with organisers delighted at the way the event went.
Volunteers were able to repair a number of items during the event, which was hosted at The Hub on High Street.
Town council clerk Jo Reay said councillors had taken the decision to try and launch their own event after the success of a visiting repair cafe around 18 months ago.
She said: "We had Telford Repair Cafe visit the hub to run a repair cafe in there. They go to different venues and they haven't been back to Newport so the town council got their heads together and said this is a really good thing for the community, it helps people to reduce landfill and recycle and re-use – and it enhances our volunteer offer.
"We said well, let's just do it ourselves. We put the call out for volunteers and we were just so lucky so many people have come forward.
"We had about 12 volunteers today, some serving tea and coffee, some did sewing, some did electronics and bike repairs.
"We also had people from Sustainable Newport to advise on hard-to-recycle items and other things."
The event ran from 10am to 1pm for dropping off items – although one eager resident was outside at 9.30am.
People could then return at 3pm to pick up repaired items.
Those given a new lease of life included an old stereo, solar garden lights, kitchen scales and a Nerf gun.
Sadly a VHS player could not be revived due to a broken motor.
Jo said: "These things would have ended up in the bin but they were able to fix them."
The council initially intends to run the group on the first Saturday every three months, with the next event due to take place on December 7.
Jo added: "We are really pleased. For the first one the community turned up and the volunteers were brilliant and a lot of people showed interest.
"We had people walking past putting their heads in saying 'if I knew you were here I would have brought this or that' - so I expect next time we will be even busier!"
