Hackney Fixers's Posts - Sustainable Hackney2024-03-28T14:44:42ZHackney Fixershttps://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profile/HackneyFixershttps://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/68585985?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profiles/blog/feed?user=0y97nvlq6nlfa&xn_auth=noHackney Fixers Laptop project updatetag:sustainablehackney.org.uk,2020-09-03:6446498:BlogPost:730462020-09-03T10:41:36.000ZHackney Fixershttps://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profile/HackneyFixers
<p>Today Hackney Fixers handed over 5 laptops to Lauriston School near Victoria Park. </p>
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<p>They will be loaned to kids who have had no access to online learning at home during lockdown so they can access extra resources to help them catch up with their learning. </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7817703653?profile=original" rel="noopener" target="_blank"><img class="align-full" src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7817703653?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600"></img></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">From left: James Diamond (Hackney Fixers),…</span></p>
<p>Today Hackney Fixers handed over 5 laptops to Lauriston School near Victoria Park. </p>
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<p>They will be loaned to kids who have had no access to online learning at home during lockdown so they can access extra resources to help them catch up with their learning. </p>
<p><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7817703653?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/7817703653?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p><span style="font-size: 8pt;">From left: James Diamond (Hackney Fixers), Mohammed Bakouse (Network Manager), Lorraine Groom (School Business Manager) at the handover.</span></p>
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<p>Following our <a href="https://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profiles/blogs/hackney-fixers-a-lockdown-project" target="_blank" rel="noopener">appeal in July</a> Hackney Fixers received the laptops thanks to the generosity of members of the public. They have been refurbished and are being distributed to local college and school students who are struggling to access online learning.</p>
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<p><em>"Lauriston was kind enough to host Hackney Fixers for our 5th anniversary event, so we have a direct connection with the school"</em> said James Diamond. </p>
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<p><em>"We received no laptops from the DfE scheme, but we still have vulnerable students who don't have online access at home"</em> said Mohammed. </p>
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<p><em>"Thanks to Hackney Fixers, we now have these resources for learning support"</em> said Lorraine.</p>
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<p><em>"We hope this project will help bridge the digital divide in Hackney as well as preventing waste and keeping valuable resources in use for longer"</em> concludes James.</p>Hackney Fixers - a lockdown projecttag:sustainablehackney.org.uk,2020-07-08:6446498:BlogPost:724012020-07-08T12:00:00.000ZHackney Fixershttps://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profile/HackneyFixers
<p>Unfortunately our events in June and September have been cancelled, but we’ve been working on a lockdown project to refurbish 4 laptops for use by students who need them for online studying.</p>
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<p>The laptops are between 5 and 13 years old and have been retired from use for 2-7 years. They are classic examples of “stored WEEE” that would probably eventually end up being “recycled”.</p>
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<p>We have purchased and fitted several parts including chargers, batteries, memory, hard…</p>
<p>Unfortunately our events in June and September have been cancelled, but we’ve been working on a lockdown project to refurbish 4 laptops for use by students who need them for online studying.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The laptops are between 5 and 13 years old and have been retired from use for 2-7 years. They are classic examples of “stored WEEE” that would probably eventually end up being “recycled”.</p>
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<p>We have purchased and fitted several parts including chargers, batteries, memory, hard drives, and installed new operating systems. The total cost averaged about £30 for each machine, which is a lot cheaper than new.</p>
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<div class="lightbox-wrapper"><a href="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/6698992860?profile=original" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/6698992860?profile=RESIZE_710x" width="600" class="align-full"/></a>The laptops will be used by students at a local FE college studying for GCSE's or access courses.</div>
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<p>We understand there is a huge unmet need for laptops for school and college students. Many are having to share with other family members or struggling to work on phones or tablets. </p>
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<p>Even in September when schools and colleges return a lot of students will be involved in “mixed mode” learning. The government scheme to provide laptops doesn’t meet all the need.<span> </span><a href="https://www.voice-online.co.uk/news/community/2020/07/07/hundreds-of-laptops-sent-to-students-that-need-them/" rel="nofollow noopener">Mayor of Hackney urges government to widen eligibility criteria</a>.</p>
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<p><strong>If you have a laptop you are not using, even if it is a bit old or needs some TLC, then please get in touch on <a href="mailto:info@hackneyfixers.org.uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener">info@hackneyfixers.org.uk</a> We will try to get it back in use by a local student and help bridge the digital divide!</strong></p>
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<p></p>An extra big smile!tag:sustainablehackney.org.uk,2018-02-09:6446498:BlogPost:641532018-02-09T14:00:00.000ZHackney Fixershttps://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profile/HackneyFixers
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733251?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-right" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733201?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300"></img></a> Hackney Fixers hosted a busy day of fixing on 3<sup>rd</sup> February at the Redmond Centre, with over 50 people coming for help with their ailing electrical equipment and clothing. One happy lady, Elizabeth, asked for “an extra big smile” to be drawn on the fixing log, she was so pleased to have her phone working again!</p>
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<p>We realised with a start that this was…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733251?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733201?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"/></a>Hackney Fixers hosted a busy day of fixing on 3<sup>rd</sup> February at the Redmond Centre, with over 50 people coming for help with their ailing electrical equipment and clothing. One happy lady, Elizabeth, asked for “an extra big smile” to be drawn on the fixing log, she was so pleased to have her phone working again!</p>
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<p>We realised with a start that this was our fifth year in a row at the centre - we can hardly believe that we have been fixing in Hackney since 2013. It led us to reflect on the year since we were last here, and to think about the fun we’ve had helping people fix things over the years.</p>
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<p><a width="350" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733248?profile=RESIZE_480x480" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733248?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-right"/></a></p>
<p>Since 2013 we have run 27 Restart Parties contributing to preventing 715 kg of e-waste and CO<sub>2</sub> savings equivalent to driving a car over 100,000km.</p>
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<p>2017 was our busiest year so far. Following on from The Redmond Centre in January we toured the borough visiting Shoreditch, London Fields, Stoke Newington, Homerton and finishing in Dalston with a joint event with our friends <a href="http://therestartproject.org/">The Restart Project</a> as part of their Tour of London.</p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733278?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="300" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/84733278?profile=RESIZE_320x320" width="300" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p>In March we were visited by BBC Radio 4 and featured in their “<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b08nq5x3">Costing The Earth</a>” programme. Michael from Limerick also dropped in to see what we were up to and has subsequently set up his own repair project in Ireland.</p>
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<p>In September we held our annual “Big Fix” which includes clothing, bike and furniture repair as well as electrical repair. Because of the popularity of the clothing repair workshops we now include this in most of our events.</p>
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<p>In October we started our <a href="http://sustainablehackney.org.uk/profiles/blogs/hackney-fixers-fixing-fridays">Fixing Fridays</a> series of workshops teaching repair skills with our chief fixer Dave Lukes and these have been very popular, with a waiting list for each session.</p>
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<p><img src="https://therestartproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Group-photo-JS-C-4-640x360.jpg?width=300" width="300" class="align-right"/></p>
<p>In October we were also proud to attend the first annual <a href="https://therestartproject.org/community/future-fixfest/">FixFest</a>, an international festival of repair held for the first time in London, where we shared experiences with fixing groups from Netherlands, Italy, America, Sweden and hosted a workshop with colleagues from Argentina. We hope FixFest will be repeated as we help build a movement to promote repair as an alternative to ever increasing levels of consumption and waste.</p>
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<p><a href="https://therestartproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_20171115_185854-2-1-640x393.jpg" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://therestartproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/IMG_20171115_185854-2-1-640x393.jpg?width=200" width="200" class="align-left"/></a>In November we were at a <a href="https://therestartproject.org/data-and-insights/mapping-commercial-repair-in-three-more-london-boroughs/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">special event</a> to launch some work we are doing with The Restart Project on commercial repair, which will be published soon. We need a healthy repair economy to complement community repair projects.</p>
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<p>None of this would have been possible without our wonderful volunteer fixers who have contributed 1000 hours of volunteer time to the project. Thanks also to Monica at Hackney Library Service, Paul and Ander in the Hackney Waste Prevention team, Hackney Council for funding and helping with publicity, and to Traid, Fabrications, School of Stuff, Hackney Bike Workshop, Sustainable Hackney, Friends of the Earth, Sugru, MHDT, and not least the wonderful Restart Project!</p>
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<p>We are now looking forward to our next event on March 18<sup>th</sup> at Stamford Hill Library, and planning a series of events around the borough. See hackneyfixers.org.uk for more information.</p>
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<p>Hackney Fixers, February 2018</p>
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