LAST weekend Stirling’s first-ever Repair Café was held by Transition Stirling.

More 50 people came with items they wanted repaired and staff and volunteers were on hand to show them how with a cup of tea and cake.

The range of potential repairs was extensive as the café was prepared to help with furniture, jewellery, clothing, furniture, tool sharpening and electrical equipment.

The Repair Café concept originated in the Netherlands as a way to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill each year.

Each year, vast amounts are things are thrown away which could be simply repaired, yet people can lack this skills to do so.

The repair café environment helps bring together people with items they would like to fix those with people who have skills to share.

One of the most fun aspects of holding a repair café is not knowing what kind of items are going to make an appearance.

Examples of items volunteers and staff were tasked with included a polaroid camera, walking poles, remote controlled cars, shoes, necklaces, curtains, a printer, a wooded tray and sharpening axes.

Another fun part was the amazing buzz between our two locations.

Thanks to Volunteer Scotland’s Festival of Volunteering Transition Stirling had some extra space to squeeze all the people in at their pop up shop on Murray Place.

Everyone was really enthusiastic about taking their much loved possessions apart and putting them back together to get them in working order again. It’s not just about fun or saving money.

An estimated 121kg of carbon emissions were avoided through the items not going to landfill.

If the participants keep their skills going this will increase to an estimated 605kg over five years, helping us to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce our contribution on climate change.

It was all made possible by having a load of tools at the team’s disposal through the tool library in Stirling Arcade, many of which were kindly donated by members of the public.

There’s even a 3D printer now to print any missing parts.

The tool library and repair café project is funded through the Climate Challenge Fund which is managed by Keep Scotland Beautiful and funded by the Scottish Government, and European Regional Development Fund.

Transition Stirling would like to thank Something Old Something New, a social enterprise based in Stirling raising money to find a cure for Parkinson's, for donating desk lamps to help our volunteers and staff see what they were fixing.

They would also like to thank Wee County Men’s Shed for assistance with tool sharpening on the day.

Project Manager Emma Erwin said: “We couldn’t be more grateful to all the volunteers who were so generous with their time and skills. We really enjoyed the day and were glad so many people made it along to learn how to fix their things. Now we’re really excited about the next one.”

Anyone with repair skills who is interested in volunteering at future repair café events can contact info@transitionstirling.org.uk.

To find out more about the Transition Stirling tool library and view all upcoming events visit www.transitionstirling.org.uk or visit the tool library in the Stirling Arcade.