WASTE not want not is a mantra that might just help to save the planet, in this throwaway world.

And Ledbury is joining in with this quiet revolution, by having its own regular repair cafe, one which has already proved to be very popular.

Spokesman David Murdoch said: "Ledbury’s first Repair Café got off to a flying start at the Burgage Hall earlier this month.

"More than sixty people from Ledbury and surrounding villages, brought along all manner of household items to see if they could be fixed, rather than be thrown away or replaced.

“We were absolutely delighted with the enthusiastic response of the Ledbury public at our inaugural event on February 1.”

He added: “Our team of skilled volunteer repairers breathed new life into everything from kettles to cuckoo clocks, vacuum cleaners, bathroom scales, model trains, and even radios and CD players.

"They also successfully completed many small sewing jobs and glued broken ornaments back together. There was a real buzz in the hall and after booking their items in, visitors enjoyed chatting with each other over tea or coffee and some very tasty cake, whilst waiting for the next repairer to become available.”

Repair Cafés are local schemes that promote repair as an alternative to throwing things away, and visitors must stay with their item during the repair, so they will learn something from watching their repairer in action and chatting with them."

The idea for repair cafes was born in Amsterdam, which held the first Repair Café in 2009, and there are now over 1,500 Repair Cafés worldwide. Repair Cafés do not charge a fee for repairs, "but all donations towards the cost of running the sessions are gratefully accepted".

The first one was the brainchild of Martine Postma.

Following this a foundation was formed to support local groups around the world in setting up their own Repair Cafés, and since then, the number of Repair Cafés has grown quickly, with over 20 registered in the UK alone. International Repair Day was set up globally in 2017, as an annual event to take place on the third Saturday of October.

Repair Café Ledbury is held on the first Saturday of every month from 10am to 1pm (last entry 12.30) in The Burgage Hall, Church Lane.

The next Repair Café dates in Ledbury are March 7, April 4, and May 2.