ORGANISERS are delighted with the response to the launch of a repair cafe.

About 23 volunteers signed up to fix objects or help with running the cafe, held in Booths supermarket, Ulverston, on Monday evening

Organiser Dave Kyles said: "It was a brilliant turn-out of volunteers and a steady stream of people bringing items to fix."

Objects brought for repair included a vacuum cleaner, a rocking chair - and a pair of pyjamas.

Retired chemical engineer Mr Kyles said the environmental benefits of the repair cafe included less waste going to landfill and reduced CO2 emissions, because fewer new things would be made.

"Repairing things obviously encourages the move away from a disposable culture to a more sustainable one - essential in the face of the climate emergency."

Mr Kyles, who worked in the pharmaceutical industry, particularly on projects to minimise waste and recover solvents and other materials, added: "Like many people, I tend to feel powerless when faced with the news about the climate emergency. So I think it's better to make a start and do small things rather than nothing.

"It will take a long time to get to a sustainable planet, but we need to be on that journey."

A spokesman for Extinction Rebellion Furness said: "The repair cafe is exactly the sort of action we need. It challenges the throw-away culture - meaning less waste and CO2 - and saves families money.

"And also, like beach clean-ups and the free toy shop XR Furness organised before Christmas, it brings people

together - which is what we need to cope with the effects of the climate emergency and to prevent it becoming even worse. There's no arguing with the science - either we urgently reduce CO2 and other greenhouse gases or we tip into catastrophic climate change that could well leave the planet uninhabitable."

Anthea Hanson, one of XR Furness' main organisers who was at the repair cafe launch, said: "A popular misconception with tackling the climate crisis is that it is about giving things up. However most of the changes that we need to make will result in a more thriving, happier society.

"We know that it is often more expensive to repair an item that [it is] to buy a new one. This is our crazy world since the 1950s when industry made the decision of [bringing in] planned obsolescence...How many times hae we heard someone older than us say 'They made things to last in the old days'? Well, they were right!"

The repair cafe will be held on the first Monday of every month from 6.30 to 8.30pm.