Bell House Repair Hub – Update

"I love that I don't have to throw this out and buy a new one," said one of our repairers at the electronics repairs event. They had just mended their bedside light. The repair hub is about people learning to do repairs rather than having repairs done for them. Perhaps the most unusual repair challenge at that event was with someone who had a device for firing balls so their son could practise his tennis shots.

The Bell House repair hub has run a series of events including fabric repairs, electronics and bikes. One neighbour brought a broken bike along and, when it was fixed, donated it to Bell House so that there will be pedal transport to lend to our visiting residents in the pottery and other projects.

We usually meet for three hours on a Saturday with details on the Bell House website. Future plans include repair hub sessions for children's toys, small items of furniture and repeats of our sessions on bikes and electronics. There is also a repair hub shed being constructed which will give the project a permanent home at Bell House.

Call for help!

We have an excellent leadership team led by Dave Lukes, John Clements and Ben Swift along with Liam and Sammy, but we need more help. You don't have to be an expert at repairing things – there is plenty of organising and welcoming to do. We will also need to buy tools, having been given a grant of £1,000. If you'd like to help please send an email to: [email protected].

Quilters on BBC's DIY SOS

DIY SOS wanted to have a memory quilt made for bereaved siblings living on together in the same house after their mother’s death.

DIY SOS found Catherine-Marie Longtin, an art quilter based in Peckham, and asked her if she could make such a quilt. She was enthusiastic, but knowing that she had less than a week to make it, knew she couldn’t do it alone and needed some volunteers to help her. She contacted Marianne ten Kate, a fellow member of the London Modern Quilt Guild, for help. Marianne quickly realised that she knew EXACTLY who could get the job done. Marianne spoke to Janis Fuller, her fellow Quilt Academy tutor, and they hatched a plan. The mother’s clothes, chosen by the siblings themselves, arrived at Bell House on Friday lunchtime, and under Catherine-Marie’s artistic guidance, a large group of eager and joyful QA members, joined by members of Dulwich Quilters, worked to make the blocks. In addition, another group of equally keen QA stitchers made each of the five siblings a cushion from their mother’s clothing to keep in their own rooms.

An heroic effort resulted in a quilt top and all the cushions being made by 5pm. Janis made the backing from two huge pieces of ticking, to Catherine-Marie’s exacting standards, and Marianne quilted it on the Saturday on her long-arm quilting frame. It was ready for Catherine-Marie to add the binding and deliver it to the programme makers by Wednesday. 

Catherine-Marie and Wendy Regan went to the DIY SOS ‘grand reveal’ at the newly renovated home and met some of the family. Tears were shed all round, we’re reliably informed.

The programme, featuring the finished quilt, aired on the 24th October on BBC1.