New free repair shop to launch in Oxford

Free help with repairing bikes, electrical items, computers and clothes is coming to an Oxford neighbourhood.

On Saturday, the first Jericho Repair Shop will take place at St Barnabas CE Primary School, in Jericho, between 10 and 12:00 BST.

Organiser John Mair said everyone was welcome to come along and donations would go back into rental costs and advertising for the event, which he hoped would continue on a monthly basis.

He said an initiative such as the repair shop "stops people throwing things away".

Mair said he decided to start a repair shop in Jericho after having used the service himself.

"I went to the repair shop in Wolvercote maybe a year or two ago and they repaired my garden blower - I thought this is a good idea," he said.

"I've brought over the man who repairs bicycles in Wolvercote, people who repair sewing, people who do computers, who sharpen knives."

Co-ordinator of Share Oxford, which also runs repair cafes in Oxford, Ben Tuppen previously said society needed to be more innovative in its approach to sustainability.

"If it doesn't work, repair it, don't throw it away and certainly don't throw it on the pavement," Mair said.