As part of Mess Up The Mess’ project The Town The Valley And Me, the young people attending our Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen drama sessions have been working on a song to highlight the incredible work of volunteers at repair cafes, saving broken items from being thrown away.
The project contributed not just to the aim of bringing young people closer to the community around them, but also their connection to the beautiful natural environment they live in and see every day.
Highlighting and tackling climate change was also a key part of the project. Our young people were keen to make a positive contribution to fighting it, and saw encouraging the use of repair cafes as an ideal opportunity to do so.
It was also important to them to make sure that more people were aware of what has fast become an important and useful community resource.
“Take it to be mended so you can be defended. But where to go to mend it? The Repair Cafe Crew!”
From electronics to teddies, furniture to bikes, we wanted to highlight the wide range of skills the repairers possess, while testing the song writing abilities of our young people.
The song was written with the help of artist Dan Lawrence. Its style was inspired by many different genres creating something catchy and fun!
Our young people rose to the challenge beautifully, and the volunteers very much appreciated their efforts, especially the shoutouts to individual helpers in the lyrics.
“I think my bike needs repairing. Nigel Nicholas is your mate!”
“If your tiny teddy is hanging by a thread, Lizzy Langley will fill it up with love and care.”
The team over at Hwb y Gors have had the first listen and this is their reaction:
“This is amazing!! I love it so much and can’t wait for this to go live!” Louise Griffiths
“This is just brilliant. Thanks to all at MUTM” Angie Dickinson
Hwb y Gors repair cafe currently runs monthly. You can bring along your broken or damaged item and their volunteer repairers will try to fix it, for free. You can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, and chat to your fellow neighbours while you wait. They can even show you how it is done too.
Typical repairs include; basic bicycle maintenance, electrical appliance repair, computing assistance, sewing, ornament repair, and woodworking. They will have a look at most things, except Microwaves as they are too dangerous.
“Follow the signs down to Hwb y Gors- We can fix almost anything. From worn out jeans to a hobby horse! Almost anything but dim popty ping!”
Watch this space for the official release!
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