The Brent Cross Town WorkShop was buzzing yesterday (Sunday 15 June) with residents popping in to breathe new life into their everyday items and much-loved belongings that might otherwise have been destined for landfill.

As part of Barnet Council’s Barnet Climate Action Month, a talented team of four electrical fixers, two seamstresses and two bicycle renovators joined Brent Cross Town’s first ever Repair Café, which was led by Barnet Council’s Sustainability Team with funding from North London Waste Authority.

Over 100 people signed up to slots throughout the day bringing everything from alarm clocks to leaf blowers, headphones to sewing machines, several hoovers and a handful of laptops all being repaired for free – much to the joy of those who stopped by.

Trousers were rehemmed and dress sleeves repaired, while outside our bike fixers got adults and children back on their scooters and bicycles with brakes checked, punctures repaired, and wheels realigned.

Angus Ho from Colindale brought along his bike to be fixed, he said: “I saw the Barnet Council newsletter and booked an appointment. I’ve had a flat tyre and haven’t used this bike for almost a year – everything ran very smoothly. An excellent service. I’m happy that it’s totally free and I can use my bike again this summer!”

“Three minutes and it’s fixed, amazing!” that’s what Hanna Guedj told us, after he had a faulty alarm clock repaired.

Priti Gandre, from Finchley, originally booked an appointment with the bike fixers to take a look at her son’s bike. While they waited, she chanced her luck with a beautiful dress that can now be enjoyed again after the team repaired the sleeve. “She was very friendly” she told us. “I didn’t even have an appointment. Would definitely recommend, five stars!” Priti added of her repair café experience.

Wendy Alcock from New Barnet, brought along a pair of faulty headphones while on route to an event in the area. She told us: “We have these headphones, and they work, but one of them wobbles. We were thinking about buying a new pair and I saw this was happening in the area and managed to get an appointment – I’m leaving with a solution to fix them instead, amazing.”

There was a strong sense of community throughout the day, those who visited the Workshop were able to enjoy tea and biscuits and get to chatting to new people across the Barnet community.

The Repair Café is just one of dozens of free and low-cost collaborative, inclusive and community focused events taking place across the borough as part of Barnet Climate Action Month (BCAM) which is running until 30 June. View the events directory here.

We hope to see more Repair Cafes taking place across Barnet and at Brent Cross Town – sign up to the BarNET ZERO newsletter to be the first to hear about the future dates.