A SMALL village is taking its fight against “throwaway culture” all the way to Westminster today.

Volunteers from Lover Repair Café have travelled to Parliament to join nearly 100 repair groups from across the UK, calling on MPs to make it easier and cheaper for people to fix everyday items rather than replace them.

The event, organised by The Restart Project and Back Market, is expected to be the largest of its kind yet, with growing political pressure for change as the government prepares to publish its Circular Economy Growth Plan later this spring.

Lover Repair Café, which has been running since 2019, has become a lifeline for many in the community, offering free repairs on everything from kitchen appliances to clothing and bikes.

Around 40 volunteers now give up their time to help others save money and reduce waste.

Chairman Martin Davies said the group’s mission goes far beyond fixing broken items.

“We’re helping Lover and the surrounding communities to get support with repair when they need it,” he saidf.

“We open twice a week in Lover to repair broken items and provide a community hub too. By embracing Repair and Reuse we are not only saving our community money, but we are also saving the environment by reducing waste.

“We need the government to support the future of repair with improved legislation that will encourage manufacturers to design products that are easy to repair”.

Campaigners say public support is already there, with surveys suggesting four in five people back stronger repair rights.

At Parliament, the group hopes to meet Salisbury MP John Glen and encourage him to sign the UK Repair and Reuse Declaration, which calls for measures such as tax cuts on repairs, better product design standards and clearer labelling to show how repairable items are.

Co-director of the restart project Fiona Dear said: “We’re excited to go to Parliament with representatives of almost 100 of the UK’s repair cafes. Repair is something we can all do to save money and reduce waste, but it’s often too hard to fix our stuff.

“We want to show that repair is popular, and that government support to help us to give things a second life will also be popular. “

For the volunteers heading to Westminster, it’s a chance to show that small, community-led action can have a national impact, and that fixing things might just be the future.