A THRIVING community project is bringing people together by helping them fix all kinds of items which would otherwise go to waste.

The Repair Café, which started in November last year, is held on the second Sunday of every month in the upstairs of the Red Lion pub in Manningtree.

Tom West, owner of the Red Lion and creator of Rentmy – a peer-to-peer rental platform – explained how the café was set up to help residents find out how and where they could find experts to make-do-and-mend their products.

Each person is given a repair monitor form, while some repairers may need to take the item home to spend more time on it.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Monthly- A previous repair caféMonthly- A previous repair café (Image: Red Lion pub)

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Community - The repair café in the upstairs of the Red Lion pubCommunity - The repair café in the upstairs of the Red Lion pub (Image: Red Lion)

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Fixed - (Left to right) Philip and Mark with the fixed keyboardFixed - (Left to right) Philip and Mark with the fixed keyboard (Image: Newsquest)

Leather work, sewing, electrics, computer repairs, jewellery repairs, and general repairers were all on offer.

The event is run by volunteers who ask for donations to their own individual chosen charities and aims to not take work away from any established business.

The latest session was attended by, among other people, Philip Clevberger, of Manningtree, who had bought a keyboard off eBay.

He quickly found out, however, that it didn’t work properly due to a few broken keys, so decided to head to the Repair Café. 

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Technical - Mark (left) fixes Philip's keyboardTechnical - Mark (left) fixes Philip's keyboard (Image: Newsquest)

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Trousers - Stef Bloomfield (Left) from Rentmy gets her online trousers fixedTrousers - Stef Bloomfield (Left) from Rentmy gets her online trousers fixed (Image: Red Lion pub)

Mark Renault, property maintenance and handyman, could not promise the keyboard would be fixed but spent several minutes trying out different tests.

Remarkably, before the long, the keyboard was working as if new again.

Mark revealed how pure vodka, unlike many surgical fluids, enabled him to fix the keyboard as it did not leave a residue, with the keyboard’s problem coming down to its unclean electronic inside.

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Steady - Fay Howell a repairer shortens a pair of trousersSteady - Fay Howell a repairer shortens a pair of trousers (Image: Newsquest)

Harwich and Manningtree Standard: Resourceful - publican Tom West (left) helping fix a lampResourceful - publican Tom West (left) helping fix a lamp (Image: Newquest)
Tom added: "Manningtree itself is a massively green community.

"You’ve got the Mermaids talking about sewage, you have Plastic-Free Manningtree. We have a continuous drive.”

The next repair café will be held on February, 11 at the Red Lion pub.