Club Meeting

Edinburgh Remakery was the subject of a virtual presentation by Elaine Brown on Thursday 21st January. Members of the Rotary Club of South Queensferry heard an interesting talk which highlighted the vital work done by smaller Edinburgh organisations in the field of recycling and environmental awareness. An award-winning social enterprise based in Leith Walk, Edinburgh Remakery promotes a culture of remake and reuse. Articles which might have been sent to landfill are repaired for reuse and in the process the organisation teaches these skills to members of the community. Covid has restricted their training and educational function, but normally they run courses on everything from knitting and woodwork to sewing, lino printing, book binding and lampshade making. Currently their specialists are concentrating on upgrading donated computers and other IT which are then sold at affordable prices or supplied to schools, or other charitable organisations for use by people such as refugees and asylum-seekers. In normal times, Edinburgh Remakery also offers private workshops for functions such as birthdays, anniversaries and team building.

Elaine's talk demonstrated how small organisations can have a big impact. In 2018 Edinburgh Remakery diverted 60 tonnes from landfill and trained over 1,400 people in repair and re-use skills. Elaine Brown was introduced by Graham Clarkson.