Introduction

The Fixy initiative works alongside Somerset’s repair network, visiting events, schools and businesses to promote repair, support repair events with tools and a PAT – portable appliance testing – safety service, encourage volunteers to get involved, and collect smart tech for reuse.

It is led by the Resource Futures consultancy, in partnership with Somerset Council and Donate-IT, a local community interest company that data-wipes and refurbishes laptops, tablets and phones, and distributes them to schools, community groups and families who need them.

The grant funded project is continuing on a part-time basis while future funding options are explored. We will continue to promote repair and reuse of all kinds as much as possible.

Where’s Fixy?

• Friday 21 April 2023, 11am to 2pm (Fixy stall, no van) at Sunflower Day Centre, St Margaret’s Hospice, Little Tarrat Lane, Yeovil BA20 2HU for their Earth Day event.
• Saturday 22 April 2023, 11am to 4pm, Ninesprings Yeovil Country Park for Earth Day Celebration event.
• Saturday 13 May 2023, 10am to 4pm (Fixy stall, not van) at Eat: Taunton on the grassed area near Taunton Minster (St Mary Magdalene Church) Magdalene Street, Taunton TA1 1SA.
• Saturday 27 May 2023, 10am to 4pm Fixy van at Eat: Burnham-on-Sea Victoria Street (nr. Scott’s Home Furnishers), Burnham-on-Sea
• Saturday 3 June 2023, 10am to 4pm (Fixy stall, no van) at Stoke St Gregory EnviroFair, The Williams Hall (village hall), Dark Lane, Stoke St Gregory TA3 6EU
• Sunday 18 June 2023, 10am to 12 noon (Fixy stall, no van) at launch of Yeovil Repair Workshop (new community group) at Holy Trinity Scout Hall, Lysander Road (junction with Plantagenet Chase), Yeovil BA20 2BU.
• *EVENT CANCELLED Saturday 22 July 2023, TBC Fixy van at Yeovil Ecofair at Holy Trinity Church and Community Centre, Lysander Road (junction with Plantagenet Chase), Yeovil BA20 2BU.
• Saturday 22 July 2023, 10am to 4pm Fixy van supporting Sustainable Street event. The event includes a variety of stalls, talks and more at various venues around Street – The Crispin Centre, Methodist Church and Quaker Meeting House. Fixy will be outside in Southside car park, Vestry Road, Street BA16 0HY to chat about repair and accept smart tech donations. There is pedestrian access from The Crispin Centre.
• Sunday 20 August 2023, 10am to 4pm Fixy at EAT: Minehead pending confirmation.
• Saturday 2 September 2023, 10am to 4pm Fixy van at EAT: Wellington pending confirmation.

Fixy team will be:

• Promoting volunteer-run repair groups and opportunities to get involved
• Accepting donations of unwanted smart tech for reuse, including laptops, tablets, mobile phones, digital cameras and other smart devices (see below for full list) – data will be securely wiped by Donate IT before items are passed back into the community.

Can’t get to a Fixy event? You can donate your smart tech at one of DonateIT’s collection points across Somerset and other parts of the South West.

Need something fixed? Find local community repair groups across Somerset on our web page Somerset’s Repair Network.

What smart tech items can I bring to a Fixy event?

You can donate the following through all Fixy events, including our smaller Fixy stalls without the van:

• Laptops*
• Tablets*
• Mobile Phones /Smart Phones
• Smart Watches
• Digital cameras
• Game Consoles and accessories*
• Hard Drives / External Disk Drives
• Routers*

* including power supply cable / AC adaptor /charger etc wherever possible.
Items must be unlocked – and unlinked if using an icloud account to enable reuse.

Other smart tech to donate? The following items can be donated when the Fixy van visits a business or a community event, or at one of the other drop off points shown on donateit.co.uk:

• Laptops*
• Tablets*
• PCs, Desktops, Towers*
• Mobile/Smart Phones
• Servers*
• Hard Drives
• Game Consoles and accessories*
• NAS Drives
• PC Combo / All-in-one type computer*
• Digital cameras
• Scientific calculators
• PDAs
• Routers*
• Server Rack/Cabinets
• Switches
• Thin Clients
• UPS Unit
• Wireless Access Points
• Docking Stations / Port Replicators
• DVR/NVR/PVR e.g. Freeview recorder or CCTV Device
• External Disk Drives
• Smart wear/Smart devices
• Smart speakers
• Smart Watches*

Including, where relevant, the power supply cable, AC adaptor, mains power and ancillary accessories to allow re-use.
Items must be unlocked – and unlinked if using an icloud account to enable reuse.

Webinar sharing the Fixy experience

Fixy’s aim is to take repair from niche to norm. There was a fantastic turnout at the Fixy project webinar “Making repair an everyday decision”. The recording of the discussion is now available.

Watch the webinar to find out results and learnings from the successful mobile electrical repair scheme, as well as learn about finding routes to engaging new audiences: Making repair an everyday decision: Learnings from the Fixy project.