Last autumn, the Sidmouth Repair Café was named as the group winner in the Sustainable Sidmouth Champions Awards :
Congratulations! Champion Awards – first photos! – Sustainable Sidmouth Champion Awards
They are very much part of a wider movement to reduce waste – with another event last autumn highlighting the very positive impact of groups across Devon:
62% of broken toasters are repairable – don’t bin it, fix it! – News
The full impact has just been released for what it actually means to take along stuff to get a helping hand to mend it – with these figures put together for the year 2023-24 by Ron Peppin of the Sidmouth Repair Café:
Waste prevented: 1,219 tonnes
Carbon emissions avoided: 0.775 tonnes
Consumer cost savings: £8,138.39
Value of volunteers’ time: £14,354.12
The Sidmouth Repair Café is a member of the Community Action Groups Devon – which provides support and logistics – including an analysis of all the figures sent in by Repair Cafés across the county to measure their impact:
We are incredibly proud of what our CAG Devon groups are achieving. They are making a considerable impact on reducing waste in Devon and encouraging other members of their community to live more sustainably. Perhaps less quantifiable but equally important is the impact these groups are having on community cohesion and wellbeing – giving people an opportunity to spend time together, learn new skills, and get to know their neighbours a little better.
We magnify this impact, by helping local community action groups to establish and organise themselves, promote their activities, learn and share skills, and support each other as they grow.
Read on to see how groups have smashed their previous impact achievements through 2022/23. You can also read the words of some group volunteers, who shared their stories and reflections of being involved in a CAG Devon group, in our pilot Storytelling research project.
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