Give your pre-loved items a new lease of life this Repair Week

Opting to repair or reuse items is vital in creating a more environmentally-friendly future. It saves precious resources, reduces waste, and helps create a lower-carbon, circular economy.   

As part of its efforts to support and empower local people and businesses to make the positive changes needed to create a greener Islington, the council and its partners are hosting a series of special events during ReLondon’s Repair Week between Monday, 20 March, and Sunday, 26 March.    

During the week, there will be practical sessions where local people can get items including clothes, laptops, electric gadgets, furniture, and bicycles repaired. Attendees will also get expert advice on how to do their own repairs and upcycling at home.   

A full list of the events that are taking place in the borough can be found on the Islington Life website, where there’s also guidance on how to sign up. The events include:    

• Workshops, run by social enterprise Fashion Enter, where you can learn how to upcycle your clothes and get experience in sewing essentials.   
• IT specialists Mer IT will be providing two-hour repair workshops. Attendees will be given advice on how computers work, how to maintain them, and how to repair common issues. For computers that are too old for a software update, Mer IT are running sessions on installing and using Linux – which brings old machines back to life.   
• Islington Council’s joinery team are inviting local people to bring small wooden items for repair, and will also be providing teaching on basic woodwork skills.    
• For children aged eight to 14, Team Repair are holding a special session on how to repair items including games consoles, remote control pads, microscopes, and radios.    
• A repair café where skilled technicians will be repairing small electronic items.  
• The council are hosting one of their regular Dr Bike events, where local people can get their bike checked, repaired, and marked to keep it safe.    

If you need help getting your items to an event, then you can use Tiptapp – an app that offers an easy, affordable way to move and recycle items. By using the discount code #IslingtonRepairWeek between Saturday, March 18 and Tuesday, March 28, you can get £10 off your order. 

By sharing pictures of your repairs on social media using the hashtag #IslingtonRepairWeek, you can also be in with a chance of winning a £50 voucher for Kilo, a sustainable, local store on Holloway Road

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality, and Transport, said: “There are so many benefits to repairing and reusing, and doing so helps to reduce emissions and save money. 

“If we’re to tackle the climate emergency, then we must make better use of the precious resources that we have and reduce the amount that we waste. Repair Week provides us all with an opportunity to get practical advice on how best we can do that.   

“We all have old items that could do with a bit of love and care – instead of letting them gather dust, why not give them a new lease of life by taking them to one of our Repair Week events?”  

As well as the special events during Repair Week, there are plenty of ways for local people to repair and reuse items all year round – including donating to charity shops, swapping items, and joining Islington’s handypersons' scheme. Further details can be found on the council’s website.