'Repair Cafe' opens at UWE Bristol
It's part of their work to get more people reusing their electricals, small appliances and clothes
Next month, for the first time at UWE, volunteers will be heading to the School of Engineering, to host a brand new 'repair cafe'.
The scheme's been launched thanks to cash from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Anyone with broken electricals, small appliances and clothes that need repairing is urged to come down.
The initiative will be run by students and community repair volunteers and will be held every second Wednesday of the month between 12:15 – 1.45pm in the Atrium of the School of Engineering (Z Block).
The repair café has been launched thanks to MAKERS funding from the Royal Academy of Engineering.
Upcoming dates are:
- October 11, 2023
- November 8, 2023
- December 13, 2023
- January 10, 2024
- February 14, 2024
- March 13, 2024
- April 10, 2024
The MAKERS project aims to improve representation and belonging in engineering for women and people from Black, Asian or Minority Ethnic groups, alongside those from underrepresented backgrounds.
The project is designed to give students an increased sense of belonging and for them to grow more passionate about pursuing an engineering career, and has been funded with nearly £90,000 of cash from the Royal Academy of Engineering, who have handed them the money from their Diversity Impact Programme - aiming to inspire change within the university engineering projects.
The programme provides funding for schemes that transform the experiences of engineering students from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds.
Grant winner, Dr Laura Fogg-Rogers, UWE Bristol Associate Professor for Engineering in Society, said: “Our Maker projects have been developed with communities to meet their needs and solve local problems. We are working on citizen sensor repairs with Baggator in Easton, urban food growing with The Old Library in Eastville, and inclusive urban planning and design with Bridging Histories in St Pauls. We will now link up these community experts with our students to solve local problems together.
“The repair café offers our diverse students the opportunity to gain practical skills and informal mentoring by working alongside inter-generational community members, as well as making a difference to the climate and ecological emergency. Every year, we throw away huge amounts, even items which have very little wrong with them, which could easily be used again after a simple repair. As well as being better for the environment and promoting sustainability, this scheme will save people money, share repair skills that are being lost, and bring the local community together.”
UWE Bristol recently became the first university in the UK to introduce a free course about the climate emergency for all students - which you can find out more about here: UWE launches UK-first course about the climate emergency for free