Skill share Opportunity: Bring and Fix

Due to recent demand we have been running sewing and clothes repair workshops along side knit and natter in the Union the past few weeks. People seem to be really interested in repairing their old items rather than throwing them away so maybe focusing on how to repair old clothes, shoes, bicycles and household items would be popular as a way of socialising but also saving money.

Knit, natter and clothes mending workshop

Socialising and Saving Money seems to be a good hook for students.

My friend Boris passed on this article about a Bring and Fix event held down in London:

We have all suffered the annoying experience of having the sole of a shoe ‘flapping about’ because it has come apart and needs gluing back to the shoe, or having buttons missing on a shirt! Or, things left broken on a shelf for ages, the niggly stuff like how to remove stains, or some practical ‘good old advice’ for a bugging issue.

Something to be checked over by a critical friend. An older person struggles with using a mobile phone or a computer: why couldn’t a neighbour or local person show them how to? There is probably one, but there hasn’t been an opportunity for those two people to meet and connect.

Bring & Fix is an intergenerational fair that brings together local people of different ages under one roof to share their skills and knowledge. It is an event where individuals ‘fix’ small things for each other, seek and provide advice and come up with solutions. It aims to connect generations and build sustainable communities through recognisable events that can be repeated in one’s locality or community on a regular basis. It’s a celebration of the talent and skills in our neighbourhoods, and by re-using and recycling it also reduces waste.

EXAMPLES OF SKILLS THAT CAN BE USED

• Putting something back together, gluing something
• Sewing a button back on, hemming a garment
• Knitting, quilting, embroidery advice
• Recycling clothes
• Resolving a computer or IT issue
• Teaching someone how to use camera or mobile phone. How to Google
• Gardening advice
• Repairing/maintaining a bicycle
• Advice on food, cooking
• Help with a presentation, something to write up, editing
• Budgeting; basic understanding of accounting reports

WHO CAN IT BE FOR?
Any community, group, club, or association can use Bring and Fix to bring their neighbours together.

• A seasonal celebration and for a specific group– e.g. International Women’s Day where a group of women could get together to use the event to fundraise for a women’s cause
• It could be run on themes like health; gardening; small repairs; sewing; recycling; IT; workshops for job applicants.
• A fundraising opportunity: for every item fixed, each participating person of a community donates money to a chosen charity

INFORMATION ABOUT HOW TO PLAN AND RUN A BRING AND FIX EVENT

Contact Philippe Granger, Development Manager at Rushey Green Time Bank Tel: 020 7 1381772
email: bringandfix@rgtb.org.uk

• Bring and Fix is a creation of Philippe Granger and is part of the London Leaders 2011 programmesupported by the London Sustainable Development Commission. Watch a video here.

NESTA innovation in giving fund - Bring and Fix from Marcel Bird Wieteska on Vimeo.

Bring & Fix | CLES

Permaculture system not a political system

Which one would you prefer?

Imagine if instead of a political system we had a permaculture system in which shelter, food and the sustainability of the world where the driving forces of this country. What an awesome place it would be.

Community Design Template for 25-500 Families Permaculture Research Institute

Instead we have politicians who seem to know very little about the real world and are there because they don't fit into the rest of society. They seem to cover their backs by using lots of terms which try to confuse people in order for the public to think they know what they are doing. In the truth though they seem to be a squabbling bunch of children in which they throw their toys out of the pram if they don't get their own voice heard, sort yourselves out its embarrassing.

MacGyver Solutions Website

If only there was a MacGyver solutions website(How would MacGyver do it?) where you could come up with cool ideas and solutions to problems from things lying around.

Competitions and events:

as part of skill share to see if people can solve real problems with things lying around

Maybe ill make one eventually as part of skill share

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With transportation budgets tight and infrastructure needs growing, isn’t it time we unleashed our own inner MacGyvers?

Its time for us all to put our MacGyver hats on!!

Junkk a source of MacGyver knowledge

I recently stumbled over a website called Junkk which provided all sorts of ideas on how you can use waste materials to create something useful.

Here is an example of a plug remover aid for people with a weak grip made from a milk bottle:

Check out the many ideas at: Junkk - Rubbish needn't be a dirty word - Ideas

Get out and Play

SERIOUSLY! is a creative documentary that turns the work ethic on its head and reveals how vital play is to our health, happiness, and the future of life. Go to seriouslythemovie.com to find out more.

Trailer - SERIOUSLY! The Future depends on play from Gwen Gordon on Vimeo.

So what is play?

Play is....

Paying attention

Starting something new

Facing the unknown

Facing the newness of yourself

Being free from stresses

Doing something you enjoy not because you have to

The opposite of work

Freedom from working

Wouldn't it be great if we could revolve our whole life around play? and make your whole life revolve around new and exciting experiences.

Skill Share Solutions In Nature

Last Month saw me run a natural insights class in which I got the group to think about how nature solves the issues of survival even in the bleakest landscapes.

Through careful observation we looked at how we could come up with solutions to our own survival needs.

Below is a copy of the insight sheets we used:

Surviving in the Wild

You went out for a walk with your friends in a woodland you don't know very well, there were so many paths to choose from and you soon found yourselves lost! No one can remember the way back to the main path, and it's starting to get dark...

With no idea when you might get home, or if you'll be able to find the path again, you start to look around.

What might be useful to look for if you're stuck for the night?

You know there are animals in this wood, you've seen a herd of deer through the trees in the distance. How do you think other animals and plants survive in the wild?

So, how would you survive a night in the woods? Can you draw a picture of your ideas?

The rest of the article can be seen on the people and planet website:

Aberdeen Skills-share Day - The Highlights | People & Planet

Design Course creating we think, living we learn

Based on " by creating we think" problem solving through crafts and make projects.

"by living we learn" Take group on experience trips to learn and discover through play.

Design a course, club or curriculum to run in Dundee or in other cities.

Called: Living creations, creative living club, PB Club(Patrick Geddes)

Vivendo Discimus and Creando Pensamus Creando Vivendo(creative living) Create and Do

Set problems each week which can be solved through making things:

Start with question?

share casual initial thoughts

then prepose make/ craft

Then share afterwards

Make projects:

(Tinker School, America)

Self contained Biosphere- biology and how the world works, what it is like to be astronaut

Crystal Radio-radio waves

Bio plastic-chemistry

Bicycle Gears-maths and mechanics

Alcohol-yeast, type of fungus, gives off carbon dioxide- show exploding and need for disinfected scientific experiments in class, how know it is carbon dioxide, how test?

Leather craft- discussion on ancient skills, where leather comes from and uses

Sprouting jars- Seedlings use food stores, photosynthesis in plant growth

Coloured celery-see where water flows-Xylem

Black paper on plants- show chlorophyll show why leaves change colour in fall

Repair and pull things apart that get from dump e.g. radios- see how they work

bow drill fire- teach physics about friction and forces

outdoor art

Bizarre Stuff Catalogue

Experiences:

Discovery-what it was like to by on ship to the antarctic

Museums

(Workhouse Museum, Ripon)

Historical recreational play

Outdoors, camping- teach biology and plant uses and bushcraft

Make do and mend in the 1940s- sewing knitting

Dig for victory, what it was like in the 1940s- fancy dress

Ethenography and what it is like to do a job-police, ambulance, milk man, baker, farmer, scientist, aquaponic expert, computer games designer