Our first public meeting in Whitehead took place at the beginning of 2020. More than 60 people attended and were really interested. One of our founders, Jane, had been a volunteer with Repair Café Belfast since its inception, so she knew a bit about what was going to be involved.
Covid followed so all our plans were put on hold.  

In January 2023 a second public meeting took place and we were able to establish a core group. Chris McCartney and Lee Robb then took us through three workshops; the Organising Group members shadowed at Repair Café Belfast events; we advertised for volunteers and held information sessions with the support of a couple of ‘veteran’ Repair Café Belfast fixers.
We held our first event on the 1st of July 2023.

As Whitehead is small, we have, so far, a small group of great volunteers, which is growing organically, and we have three events a year. We also have a few ‘honorary’ members – someone who creates our posters; someone who helps to set up, etc.
We are now constituted as an unincorporated association.

The Organising Group, six of us, all women, meet as needed and prior to each event. We have settled in the Church of Ireland Parochial Hall as our venue, and we are very grateful for their support. While Whitehead Community Centre would be a natural venue for our events, its standard hire rates are currently beyond our means. Local churches are well embedded in the Whitehead community and have kindly been able to accommodate us on a donation basis, which has made our Repair Café events possible.

We have now celebrated two birthdays and each event is a joy to be involved with. We have a couple of volunteers, who make great soup; we bring bread and all sit down together, once everything is cleared away, finishing off any baked goods left from the Repair Café!

In just over 2 1/2 years we have clocked up 176 fixes. Of course, as everyone involved knows, some items just cannot be fixed for a variety of reasons – some need a part, some need to go in the bin and many are not made to be fixed! Sometimes we just run out of time.

We are very proud in Whitehead to play a small part in reducing waste and consumption, but most of all, bringing people together and building community.
Happy days!