The dress rehearsal for Kenilworth's Repair Cafe was "a great success" according to organisers ahead of the official launch in September.

Like its counterparts in Coventry and Rugby, the Kenilworth Repair Cafe is a volunteer-led scheme encouraging residents to repair and mend broken household items to avoid throwing them away.

With the mantel of 'Reuse it, don't lose it!' the test event was held on Saturday, August 21 with volunteers gathering at Kenilworth United Reform Church to host a dry run.

The official launch will be held in September, with the cafe set to take place on the third Saturday of every month at the Warwick Road Church.

Kenilworth Repair Cafe received £800 of funding from Warwickshire County Council at the end of July, as volunteers continued to put back the start date due to the pandemic.

Project member Sharen Maxted said that the dry run had given volunteers the chance to get to know each other and to "find out what skill sets they each have".

"Our very first dress rehearsal event in August was a great success," she said.

"The public came to chat and see what they could bring for repair to our full launch in September."

Amongst the items mended were a Mary Poppins umbrella a stool and various electrical items, and one lady was shown how to mend her own bracelet.

Sharen added: "The feedback forms from the public was all very positive, even when a repair couldn't be completed. The volunteers all felt that they had enjoyed themselves demonstrating and sharing their skills.

"Setting up the Repair Café is clearly a valuable activity and will be a benefit to Kenilworth and surroundings. Our ethos of reducing landfill, fostering the idea of repair and encouraging community participation has already proved positive at the first trial event."

The next event will take place on September 18.

The core aims of the Kenilworth Repair Café are:

- To increase the adaptability and resilience of Kenilworth to climate change by reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill in particular electrical items which are currently hard to recycle.

- Help foster an awareness of environmental issues by creating a repair culture rather than that of discard and replace;

- Provide important volunteering opportunities to support the work of the café.

More information about Kenilworth repair café can be found here.