MORE handy volunteers are being sought by an organisation which hosts repair cafes across Cornwall to fix broken household items.

Treverbyn Community Trust, which is inspired by the work of the Cornwall Repair Cafe Network, is looking out for men and women who can help mend electrical and other goods.

People take along broken items, from lamps, game consoles, radios and keyboards to toys, phones, toasters and kettles, to the repair cafes.

Last year, the trust received a £45,000 grant from the Time After Time fund, established by Virgin Media O2 and environmental charity Hubbub.

The funding enabled the trust’s “Really Lovely Van” to be equipped as a mobile electronics repair centre. So far, the van has made 57 trips, covering more than 900 miles to reach various communities across the county.

Almost 300 items have been repaired or recycled around the county by Treverbyn Community Trust volunteers.

Nick Waitz, development officer of the trust, which is based at the Treverbyn Hall, near Stenalees in the Clay Country, said: “The funding has enabled us to run mobile repair cafes in community halls, churches, outdoor events and car boot sales and helped us breathe life back into hundreds of items which would have otherwise gone to waste.

“It’s been wonderful to see our handy volunteers pass their skills on to younger generations who have been thrilled to get their PlayStations, games controllers and hoverboards fixed for free!

“We’re building our network of volunteers across Cornwall so would love to hear from people who are good at fixing things.”

The trust has also run an inaugural repair cafe at Lanjeth Water Gardens or the “Lost Lakes of Lanjeth”, a new visitor attraction near St Austell, which is looking for further community support to make a fun and productive repair cafe a regular monthly event.

Virgin Media O2 and Hubbub established the Time After Time fund in 2022 in response to the growing environmental impact of e-waste — the fastest growing waste stream in the world.

They have since provided grants totalling £1-milllion to help community groups, charities and social enterprises across the country run projects that reduce e-waste and support digital inclusion.

Gavin Ellis, co-founder of Hubbub, said: “We’re so pleased to see what Treverbyn Community Trust has achieved with its funding and the momentum it’s creating with many more repair cafes on the horizon.

“E-waste is a pressing environmental issue and we’re particularly pleased to see how many young people the project has engaged with who are not only heavy users of electrical items but are key to helping tackle this issue in the future.”

Nicola Green, from Virgin Media O2, added: “It’s fantastic to see the impact Treverbyn Community Trust is having across Cornwall.”