Hi, I’m Vanessa - organiser of Lincoln Repair Café and community leader for Plastic Free Lincoln.

Plastic Free Lincoln was formed in 2019, it is part of the Plastic Free Communities campaign run by Surfers Against Sewage. Working with local businesses, community groups and residents we are aiming to reduce the amount of single-use plastic in the city. If we reduce its availability, there is less waste and the risk of pollution is also less. More information can be found here Plastic Free Communities

Before my counterpart, Louise, and I discovered the PFC campaign, we had been discussing ways of bringing tangible action on climate change to our community. We wanted to say that we had tried to tackle to climate crisis and tried to make a difference. Community, repair, creativity and food were always at the heart of our conversations. The traction Plastic Free Lincoln had created gave us the confidence to go back to our original motivations and we launched Lincoln Repair Café in March 2020 - the days when we elbowed people with a giggle.

Lincoln responded, and loved the repair café. We have continued to run events in pop-up locations as soon as pandemic restrictions meant we could get going again. I love bringing people together and listening to the conversations between Fixers and Owners. There are so many benefits from running repair events, and not all of them are about fixing the thing!

I have always been surrounded by repair; growing up my dad would have a go at most things and my mum is a super seamstress. I got my first sewing machine and electric drill for my 21st birthday. I’m am passing on the skills I can to my children. I have been beaten most recently by a spectrophotometer that is 15 years old, with no replacement lamps available from the manufacturer. I do not usually work as a Fixer at our repair cafés, but have turned my hand to a couple of cases of non-electrical items. I have Fixers who are more highly skilled than me to take on those requests.

I have visions of establishing a library of things in Lincoln, but I struggle to find the time and headspace needed to bring that to life just at the moment! When there’s an extra day in the week…