What a fantastic afternoon of fixing we had in our new Balham venue – St Mary’s Church.
Our trusty fixers tackled coffee machines and grinders, toasters, amplifiers, radios, hedge trimmers and even a keyboard!
Check out these fantastic pictures of some of the day’s successful fixes….
We were especially thrilled as three new fixers joined us to help out and we enjoyed lots of great conversation over tea and cake thanks to our new host Paula!
We’d particularly like to thank Berni Excell and all at St Mary’s who made us so welcome at this, our first event in Balham. We hope to alternate our sessions between Tooting and Balham from now on, extending our efforts to keep local e-waste out of landfill and giving broken objects a new lease of life!
Thank you to Stuart who helped me with my laptop and ps4 – unfortunately both need replacement parts so couldn’t get them entirely fixed today, but I feel much more confident in opening them back up and replacing the broken parts now, and I now know which parts I need and how to install them. This is a really great initiative!
Keep an eye out on ourShare & Repair Page and our Facebookpage for booking details of our upcoming sessions on 16th July and 24th September!
He was so interested in the way the PlayStation was being taken apart. I loved seeing him asking questions and trying to understand the whole process. He had fun and even made a friend.
A highlight of our Repair Fest 2021 is a photography exhibition offering a window into a selection of local businesses in the community where you can get items, fixed, stitched, welded, and repaired. By changing the habit of throwing things out, and by choosing to repair we save money and reduce the amount of waste going to landfill.
We invited local photographers to join us in celebrating all the fantastic individuals and businesses in the area that mend and repair.
The exhibition will appear in Tooting Market from November 2021.
View all the images and read more about our fantastic local fixers and repairers 👇
Our aims are to celebrate local fixing and mending wherever it is happening, promote local repair businesses and support sharing and repairing events building on our pre-covid Restart/Sewstart sessions.
Our first activity, as we emerged from lockdown in early July, was to stage the first ever Tooting Repair Week! We received funding for the project from the national Transition Bounce Forward programme and we’re were thrilled to team up with Jeni and Gemma atMeet & Make Spaces who co-ordinated the programme of events. We were particularly grateful for our many collaborators and supporters including Tooting Market, Mushkil Aasaan, BJ Hardware, Oasis Charity Shops, Woodfield Pavilion, Mrs Trindle and Furzedown Primary School.
We hosted the first in-person Restart Party in London in 18 months! With 5 fixers we tackled over 20 fixes ranging from a toy to a coffee machine, a food processor to a shower radio. We were also joined by two representatives of Glen Dimplex Consumer Products (brands including Roberts Radio and Morphy Richards) who are exploring how they can build products that last better and are more repairable. Our next Restart party will be on 30th October.
Our final session was an online Green Drinks session focused on how we can be more sustainable with our stuff and do more locally to limit waste. We heard from Joe Duggan of the fantastic Library of Things who are on a mission to make borrowing better than buying – for people & planet (They’ve recently opened up in Merton – how about a Tooting branch?) and Ian Mather from Restart Project who help people learn how to repair broken electronics and rethink how they consume them in the first place. WATCH A RECORDING of the session here.
What’s next?
Coming up in the Autumn is Tooting RepairFest from 23 – 31st October and an exhibition of local photography celebrating the expertise of our local fixers and menders!
Let’s make Tooting a hub of sharing, fixing and mending!
Our regular fixing and mending workshop – Restart/Sewstart – has been getting more and more popular lately.
Whether it’s broken electrical or electronic items that people don’t want to throw away – a favourite bit of clothing or a bags that needs altering or mending – or a sewing machine that someone isn’t sure how to use – more and more people are keen to fix things rather than throw them away. Our September session had more than twice as many objects bought along to fix – check out all the happy people who were helped out by our volunteers!
But our growing popularity means we need more local fixers!
We’d love to find more people locally who’d like to join in. Do you know someone who loves tinkering with things and making them work again? Or someone who is handy with a sewing machine or a needle and thread and would be happy to share their skills?
Do encourage them to come along and say hello at our next session or email us for more information transitiontowntooting@gmail.com
13.30 – 16.30 on 30th November Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s)
We get lots of support from our partners The Restart Party with online resources and workshops – and we offer lots of thanks and cups of tea and biscuits on the day!
Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!
More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www,therestartproject.org) More about Transition at www.transtiontowntooting.org, on twitter @tttooting or email us at transitiontowntooting@gmail.com
Help us break the myth that things can’t be fixed! Do you have broken electrical or electronic items that you don’t want to throw away? Or a favourite piece of clothing that needs mending or altering? Check out these happy fixers from our last session in May – who mended a pancake maker, a rucksack and a handheld vacuum cleaner!
Maybe you’re already great at fixing and mending stuff – or you’d like to learn how? We have a great and growing groups of local fixers working together to solve problems and sort out fixes…
Mike says: “We help fix, show how to fix and expel the myth that things can’t be fixed. Throwing away electronics as soon as they don’t work anymore is a mind-set that needs to be changed. And I can see from my involvement in Restart, that there are lots of community-minded people starting to change their opinions on how they view tech.”
Or maybe you fancy a cup of tea, a piece of cake and a chance to find out more about Transition Tooting and what we get up to? Come along between 13.30 – 16.30 on 6th July 7th Sept 9th Nov Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s)
(Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing! More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www.therestartproject.org)
Join this month’s Restart / Sewstart fixing and mending workshop on Saturday 18th May from 1.30pm to 4.30pm. As usual our volunteer fixers will be doing their best to fix your broken electrical or electronic items and importantly keep them out of landfill. Meanwhile on the Sewstart table you might get some help mending or altering a favourite piece of clothing. If you are already great at fixing and mending stuff why not join our growing group of local fixers?
It is of course perfectly fine just to come along to see what’s happening, enjoy a cup of tea, a piece of cake or find out more about Transition Tooting. Venue: Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s)
Do remember that Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!
More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www.therestartproject.org
And further Tooting Restart dates for your diary this year are: 6th July, 7th Sept & 9th Nov
This afternoon’s Restart & Sewstart event saw a lot of smiling faces both on the Fixed It List and in the hall. Thanks to everyone who helped out and attended!
While fixers battled to fix seemingly broken radios, lamps, toasters and phones, Shaz and her able helpers reupholstered a sofa that had been dumped in the street. Check out the time lapse video of the work!
Phew, that’s better!
At our events we aim to keep electrical or electronic items out of landfil by repairing them, and also mend and alter old clothing to give it a new lease of life. If you are just curious or would like to learn new skills come along to one of our Restart Parties
Our next Restart Party in Tooting is at Mushkil Aasaan on 8th December 13.30 – 16.30 and will include toy-mending as well – watch this space!
Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing! More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www.therestartproject.org
Don’t forget more upcoming dates for you diary: Local Stories of Sustainability Success is on Saturday October 20th and the start of a new series of Carbon Conversations on November 1st.
There’s been lots of interest in reducing waste packaging in Tooting in recent months, whether its the new Plastic Free Tooting group on Facebook or BYO the new zero waste shop in Tooting Market. So we’re delighted to be welcoming back our fixing and mending workshop which focuses on reducing electrical and electronic waste, and helping us mend and alter our clothes and household fabrics to extend their life.
So whether it’s electrical or electronic items that you don’t want to throw away or a sewing machine that is broken or you’re not sure how to us or maybe you have have a favourite piece of clothing that needs mending or altering and you’d like to learn how?
You might even fancy learning how to upholster a chair in an afternoon? Or are you simply good at fixing and mending stuff (we’re looking for people to join our growing team of volunteers!)
Maybe you fancy a cup of tea, a piece of cake and a chance to find out more about Transition Tooting and what we get up to?
If so come along on to Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s) on either …
13th October 12.00 – 15.00 or
8th December 13.30 – 16.30
Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing! More info about Restart including details of regular skillshares at www.therestartproject.org
Join our fixing and mending workshop with May’s Restart and Sewstart! Whether it’s electrical or electronic items that you don’t want to throw away or a sewing machine that is broken or you’re not sure how to use, we can help! Have a favourite piece of clothing that needs mending or altering and you’d like to learn how? Or simply good at fixing and mending stuff?
Or maybe you fancy a cup of tea, a piece of cake and a chance to find out more about Transition Tooting and what we get up to?
Come along on Sun 13th May – 2.00 – 5.00pm Mushkil Aasaan, 220 – 222 Upper Tooting Road, SW17 7EW (next to Nando’s)
(Restart Parties are a community self-repair space where you take responsibility for your own gadgets and data, so please don’t forget to take any back-ups beforehand, if relevant – and if possible arrive during the first two hours to allow time for fixing!
This Saturday 21st October sees the first International Repair Day and happily we are hosting another Restart Party with the Restart Project from 2pm at Mushkil Aasaan, 222 Upper Tooting Rd, by Nandos. All are welcome to this free event. International Repair Day will be a chance to shout about the importance of repair and the growing global community repair movement; so far, there are 36 events in seven countries. TTT is proud to be part of this celebration of repair and the important effort to think differently about electronics and waste.
A Tooting Restart Party in 2015
Restart is a community repair event where skilled volunteers will try to keep your broken electronics out of landfill by repairing them. The aim is to extend the life of electronic items from kettles to gadgets to laptops – we’ll have a look at fixing anything! At the last event the chef from Mirch Masala dropped in with an impressive looking metre long power tool, sadly not functioning. We found out what was wrong with it and hopefully many more masalas have since been mixed!
We combine this in Tooting with Sewstart our community mending and sewing project, where Jeni will be on hand with her sewing machine and box of tricks to help you fix, improve or remodel your perhaps tired but much loved wardrobe favourites. Come along and ask for advice, you might be surprised what you leave with!
Do remember to take back-ups of any electornic data on devices before handing them over to fixers as we cannot be responsible for loss of vital photos, files etc. And in the words of Restart Founders Janet & Ugo: “Obey your conscience, disobey the throw-away economy. Repair!”
