A BOROUGH repair cafe that meets monthly to repair broken household items has also branched out into providing innovative workshops for school children and community organisations.
Spencers Wood Repair Cafe has been successfully running bird box-making sessions for schools and young people’s groups, but is running short of the wood offcuts it needs for the kits.
The community group is calling out to councils, recycling centres, building supply companies and local house builders to help by supplying reclaimed, unwanted timber or wood offcuts for its environmental projects.
Between February and July repair cafe volunteers have run 14 free build your own bird box workshops for schools, Guides, and Scouts.
Their most recent workshop was attended by members of CLASP Wokingham, a self-advocacy group for people with learning disabilities.
The repair cafe’s efforts have resulted in the making of 285 birdboxes from wood that would otherwise have gone to waste.
Organiser Billie Bachra, said: “I have a very enthusiastic group of volunteers who are happy and willing to give many hours to designing the kits, cutting the wood and delivering the workshops.
“I even have an advocate in the arts department of Reading University who is ready to cut wood on an industrial scale for us.
“But I am forever looking for wood supplies and I am currently unable to book any workshops for the autumn term – the critical and best time to put up bird boxes.
“It would be a great shame for this grass roots initiative for the community and the environment not to succeed.”
Spencers Wood Repair Cafe is urgently seeking support from councils, local Re3 recycling centres, large companies that supply the building trade, and from local house builders.
These organisations can help by supplying timber off cuts and waste wood, which will be turned not only into bird boxes, but will also be used in the creation of additional kits to make bird feeders and squirrel picnic tables.
For more information, and to support the group with wood offcuts, people should visit: www.spencerswoodrepaircafe.co.uk or call: 07718 679827.
