A group repairing old items is generously donating hundreds of pounds to local causes - for what could be the last time.
The Repair Cafe Weymouth is funded only by the generous donations of the visitors who bring items for repair by its volunteers. Visitors bring broken items for repair to save them from the tip and to remove the need to buy new ones.
This year, its funds were boosted by prize money when the Nextdoor social networking website declared it to be the best community organisation in the UK.
The group often donates any surplus money to local charities, but due to rising costs, it may no longer be able to next year.
Chairman Ros Dean said: “We are a non-profit organisation and we try to run with minimal expenses so we can give away any surplus. We are distributing our surplus funds from the last two years to four charities nominated by our amazing volunteers.
"At our November event, we gave £500 to the Friends of MV Freedom, who take people with disabilities to sea on a specially designed boat, and £500 to the Women’s Refuge, who support people in abusive situations.
"At our event on December 14, we’ll give another £500 to Julian House and £500 to the Bus Shelter Dorset, two organisations that support rough sleepers in the area.
"This might be the last year when we make such a gesture as our venue hire costs will be increasing massively. “
The organisation has won two more awards this year, a gold at the Weymouth Business Awards in the Community category and a silver award at the West Dorset Business Awards.
One of Ros’s fellow organisers, Marianna Dodd, said: “We can fix just about anything our visitors can carry in, be that electrical, electronics, IT - including gadgets and games, mechanical, tool sharpening, gluing, clocks, leather or sewing.
"We’ve already seen some Christmas lights, a singing reindeer head and a musical Christmas tree decoration with a train on each level. We anticipate a lot more Christmas items at our December event, which is always a lot of fun.
"Our success rate is about 82 per cent. There are 3452 Repair Cafes globally and our feedback is helping manufacturers to design for repairability.”
Repair Cafe Weymouth’s next event is on Saturday, December 14 from 10.30am to 12.30pm at Top Club, Louviers Road DT3 6AY.
The events are scheduled for the second Saturday of every month except July and August.
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