Repair cafes join forces in Parliament to encourage MPs to sign Repair and Reuse Declaration
Dozens of repair cafe representatives from across the country joined forces in Parliament to encourage legislators to make repair and re-use easier.
Jean Tallis, based in Midgley, attended as a representative of the Mytholmroyd Repair Cafe.
Run by skilled volunteers, the repair cafe invites people to bring their broken items, such as toasters, curtains, lawnmowers or computers, and have them repaired by skilled volunteers.
More than 100 repair cafe representatives from across the UK attended the Parliamentary Repair Cafe, as well as more than 90 MPs, including Calder Valley MP Josh Fenton-Glynn.
Ms Tallis said the room was a “big buzz of people” and “absolutely packed”.
The focus of the event was to encourage MPs to sign the repair and re-use declaration, which aims to make repair and re-use easier for people.
The declaration – which so far has more than 140 MP signatories, including Mr Fenton-Glynn – aims to do this through tax reductions and repair vouchers, supporting the next generation of repairers, pushing for re-use and repair to be prioritised over recycling targets, removing barriers to repair, and more.
Speaking about her motivation for repairing things, Ms Tallis said she has been an educator all her life and wants to pass on repairing skills to other people.
She said: “People don’t know how to repair things anymore.”
She learned about the damage of fast fashion on the environment through the Women’s Institute.
“I just thought, I am going to change my ways, I am going to shop at charity shops,” she said.
Ms Tallis added that, at the moment it can be cheaper to buy something new than to have an item repaired, and that when repairs do happen it can be difficult to get into some items, or sometimes the parts are no longer available.
The repair cafes hope that changes to legislation will help to resolve these obstacles to repair.
Ms Tallis said: “We are getting the message across but whether we can get it into legislation, it’s still a long way to go.”
The Mytholmroyd Repair Cafe has been running since 2022 and takes place once every other month at St Michael’s Church Hall.
On average, the repair cafe fixes 45 items each time, with its largest number being 70 items.
More information about the Mytholmroyd Repair Cafe can be found on its Facebook page at: https://tinyurl.com/yr8c5brf
Information about the Repair and Reuse Declaration, including its signatories, can be viewed at: https://repairreusedeclaration.uk/#