The Richmond Repair Café is hosting a free event on Thursday – December 15 – to help people repair damaged clothes.

Against the background of rising living costs and a backlash against the throwaway society, people are looking to give their clothes and other items a longer life.

The regular Twickenham Repair Café, which opens once a month at St Margarets Church, has been a huge success with hundreds of items, from bikes to tech and toys, fixed by its skilled volunteers.

The Richmond event tomorrow is designed to help people gain the skills they need to carry out fabric repairs – even if they have never sewn before.

Practical skills such as needlework, woodwork and metal work have been lost among younger generations and many think nothing about throwing away cheap fast fashions.

The organisers said: "Please bring along one or two items of clothing that are in need of repair and we will teach you how to mend them. We will have examples of clothes that have been repaired, as well as materials to practice on.

"All our workshops are suitable for those with no previous skills and we provide the materials needed."

This event is presented by TRAID in partnership with the London Borough of Richmond Upon Thames and West London Waste Authority.

TRAID is a charity working to stop clothes from being thrown away. It turns thrown out fashion into funds and resources to reduce the environmental and social impacts of our clothes.

The event takes place on Thursday, from 4.30pm-7.30pm, at the Kew Community Trust, Marwood Room St Luke's, The Avenue Richmond TW9 2AJ.

Sign up here - https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/richmond-repair-cafe-tickets-467512772287