Neighbourhood Repair Club

“I feel like we are the folks that will be able to create something new in this moment, the people that are able to reach for each other, the people that are able to repair, the people that are able to dream…"

—Prentis Hemphill

Welcome to Neighbourhood Repair Club, a friendly shared space for neighbours near and far to learn repair skills together, hosted on Tuesday afternoons at the CIVIC SQUARE site in Ladywood, Birmingham, and continuing into the evening over the summer. Each week we gather to learn, share and practice skills to help us repair and care for the things that matter to us in our homes, streets and neighbourhoods, from textiles, bikes, furniture and electronics, to plant, soil and natural habitats for human and more than human life.

We repair for the joy of making something useable or beautiful again, to grow what we know we are capable of, to reimagine our relationship with the land, materials and people in our homes, streets and neighbourhoods, and to move together towards the posture of care and repair we know we need if we are to build a future where all of us can survive and thrive.

Neighbourhood Repair Club is part of Site As A Classroom, a long-term collective practice to ensure every phase of Neighbourhood Public Square is an opportunity to learn together.

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ACTIVITIES

Neighbourhood Repair Club consists of two connected spaces: everyday repair for the material things we use in our day to day lives, alongside ecological repair through Room To Grow, hosted by With Nature in Mind, where we’ll tend to our growing spaces on our shared land together as well as learning skills to nurture gardens across our neighbourhoods. Visit the Room `To Grow event page to see what's coming up there, and to sign up.

Starting with light lunch together at 12pm, we get hands on and become repairers together, usually with the support of an experienced repairer who will join us to teach and share their skills and practice. To make the most of the longer days over the summer, Neighbourhood Repair Club will extend into the evening. See the schedule below for what's on offer each week.

Whether you have existing repair skills you’d like to share, are looking for a regular space to give attention to the things you never get around to fixing at home, or would value the opportunity to work on something meaningful together with others in your neighbourhood and beyond, everyone is welcome, no previous experience required.

Have repair skills you’d like to share at Neighbourhood Repair Club? Let us know via this Tally form and we’ll be in touch for a conversation.

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SCHEDULE

Tuesday 5th August

Afternoon Session, 1pm - 4pm:

Focus on Room to Grow, With Nature in Mind

Explore, discover and repair your bike with Kwok Yee Chung, (eZo Cycle) - if you have a bike that needs a fix, bring it along

Basics of Clay Plastering #2: Making Mixes + Application with Simon Lovatt. An all-day session happening alongside Neighbourhood Repair Club, for adults and older young people. Read more and register here: bit.ly/BasicsofClayPlastering-2

Evening session, 5pm - 7.30pm:

Botanical-based creative session with Jasdeep Sandhu (Forij)

Tuesday 12 August

As we are hosting a Summer Holiday Site Takeover for young neighbours this week, Neighbourhood Repair Club will take place in the evening only.

Evening session, 5pm - 7.30pm:

Plumbing with Andrew Nevins (GUTA)

Botanical-Based Creative Session with Jasdeep Sandhu (Forij)

School Uniform Repair with Niranjana

Tuesday 19 August

Afternoon Session, 1pm - 4pm:

How to Use a Plane to Shape and Smooth Wood with Steve Watts

New Life for Old Clothes: Block Printing with Natasha Taheem

Evening session, 5pm - 7.30pm:

Botanical-Based Creative Session with Jasdeep Sandhu (Forij)

School Uniform Repair with Niranjana

Tuesday 26 August - Break

Every Tuesday (Afternoon Session):

Room to Grow, With Nature in Mind

Self-directed textile repair

Neighbourhood Repair Club continues every Tuesday until autumn - we will add details of further sessions soon.

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ABOUT THE SITE

This session takes place in and around the polytunnel on the Neighbourhood Public Square site.

As we prepare to begin the construction of Neighbourhood Public Square together, we are very committed and excited to keep the site as open as possible. In order to make this work, we invite you to adopt new postures together with us and adhere to some important principles for taking care and keeping each other safe on site.

— All activity on site is only open to adults and children aged 11+

— Children aged under 16 must be accompanied by an adult

— Closed toed shoes or boots must be worn

— We will also provide any additional safety equipment that is required on your arrival, including hi vis vests which are to be worn at all times on site

— The ground is uneven in places, please navigate carefully and look out for each other

— Please note the site currently has no toilet facilities*

— No food or uncovered drinks inside the polytunnel

— Do not go beyond the designated areas, indicated by heras fencing and floor markings

— Please listen and respect any care guidance shared by our team and practitioners on site, for whom your safety if their number one priority

If further information would support your visit, please contact Emily on emilycz@civicsquare.cc. You can also let us know about any specific access requirements you may have during the sign up process, and where possible we will of course seek to meet these, whilst also being honest about the limitations of the current infrastructure where needed to ensure you have any information you may need before attending.

*Toilets are available nearby at Ladywood Leisure Centre and Reservoir Cafe (subject to opening times). We are working to bring further infrastructure to support more visitors to the Neighbourhood Public Square site as soon as possible, including compost toilets, and acknowedge and appreciate your patience as these upgrades become possible.

We thank you for your understanding and collaboration whilst we hold the constraints and opportunities of working in close proximity to former industrial buildings which are currently undergoing surveys to gain a full picture of their condition, whilst we keep trying to practice as openly as possible together during this time, and throughout the construction stages to come.

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IS IT FOR ME?

Neighbourhood Repair Club may be for you if you:

— Are interested in repair (all levels of experience welcome)
— Would love to learn, share and exchange skills with others
— Are looking for a regular space to work on something meaningful with others in the neighbourhood
— Live, work or are rooted in and around Ladywood and are interested in the co-building of Neighbourhood Public Square (those coming from further afield are also very welcome)

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ABOUT SITE AS A CLASSROOM

Site As A Classroom is a long-term collective practice to ensure every phase of designing, building, repairing and stewarding the Neighbourhood Public Square site is an open, inclusive, and shared opportunity for learning together in our neighbourhood and beyond.

"Together, we are a commitment to this land as a site of reimagination, reuse and repair; a place to learn, build, eat, grow, care and organise; a home for the capacities, skills and relationships we need to face the challenges and possibilities ahead together, held in common for the neighbourhood for generations to come."

—Neighbourhood Public Square: The Land Story So Far

Our intention is for our team, the neighbourhood, and wider national and industrial scales to learn from the ongoing demonstration through Neighbourhood Public Square in real-time, as well as informing how we learn from what the site, ecoregion, neighbourhood, peers, and precedents can continue to teach us, without end.

This builds on so many experiences we have shared with you all so far including Doughnut Economics Peer-To-Peer Learning Journeys, Ecological Health in Neighbourhoods, Neighbourhood Trade School, Material Matter[s], Re:Builders, Retrofit Reimagined, learning from Centre For Alternative Technology, The Rediscovery Centre, Le Magasin Électrique, Ubele Initiative, Freedom & Balance, and countless others.

Launching more formally in May 2025, Site As A Classroom is an open invitation to bring the skills you have, your energy, curiosity, and lived wisdoms to help shape and co-produce this next phase of discovery and demonstration together through everyday participation, co-builds and a range of open enquiries that we are excited to share in together.

Find out more: bit.ly/PublicSquareDesign

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