Conclusion

have hired a repairer regardless of skill. Also, one may argue providing physical spaces to repair 212 items could be detrimental to other independent businesses, however, ‘slower cycles of consumption are also dependent upon the attitudes and behaviours of consumers.’ Kannengießer, 213 also recognised a change ‘could only happen when there are people who identify with and support these ideas.’ These arguments recognise the success of initiatives such as Repair Cafés are reliant 214 on introducing customers to a new way of consuming and they would not be damaging to the configuration of the high street nor other businesses.

The shift in shopping behaviour represents an ideal time to reignite peoples interest in helping the environment and a beneficial concept. In 2021, Bassam further illustrated their significance as ‘Covid-19 has brought about a renewed interest in the community- of which the repair café is increasingly a part’. The government have recently announced the ‘Right to Repair’ law, 215 designed to move towards a circular economy and extend the life of objects by 10 years as manufacturers are now obliged to provide customers with replacement parts, aiming to reduce 1.5 million tonnes of electrical waste, this in itself demonstrates how the public are aware of the unnecessary consumption that Repair Cafés can help combat. The scholarly discussion 216 demonstrates they could be a step in the right direction and deliver another reason to visit our high streets.

To conclude, the current literature determines that we have reached a pivotal moment. The way the high street presently operates is not feasible as many including Portas identified, varying factors 217 have contributed to the demise of our high streets, the pandemic being the final blow, however the damage may not be irreparable and there is now a great opportunity for it to adapt and thrive. The

212

'The CAG Project Guide to: Repair Cafes’, The CAG Project, 2018 https:// cagoxfordshire.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/The-CAG-Guide-to-Running-a-RepairCafe.docx. (Accessed 10th June 2021)

A, König, ‘A Stitch in Time: Changing Cultural Constructions of Craft and Mending’. Culture

213 Unbound: Journal of Current Cultural Research, 5 (33), 2013, pp. 569-585 .https://doi.org/ 10.3384/cu.2000.1525.135569

214

S, Kannengießer, ‘Repair Cafés as Communicative Figurations: Consumer-Critical Media Practices for Cultural Transformation'. In: A, Hepp A, Breiter U, Hasebrink (eds) Communicative Figurations. Transforming Communications – Studies in Cross-Media Research, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65584-0_5 215 E, Bassam, ‘THE REPAIR CAFÉ: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM IT?’, Rethinking Poverty, 2021, https://www.rethinkingpoverty.org.uk/local-initiatives/the-repair-cafe-what-can-we-learn-from-it/ (Accessed 10th June 2021)

216

R, Harrabin, ‘Right to repair' law to come in this summer’, BBC, 2021, https://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/business-56340077 (Accessed 16th June 2021) 217M, Portas,‘The Portas Review’ 2011, https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/ uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/6292/2081646.pdf (Accessed 7th June 2021) and

thrill of seeing a beautiful dress in a shop window and being able to touch the fabric and try before you buy or admiring a piece of art in a gallery and browse a book shop for the perfect book are moments that can never be replaced online, it is a separate experience. The high street has to evolve and elevate itself into something more than the same few shops , the next step is paramount. Retailers now have centre stage to change the future of real life shopping by stepping up, buying responsibly, stimulating and engaging customers with exciting and inviting window displays and good merchandising whilst having a warm welcome and offering good customer service making it a retail experience. Regardless of funds, initiatives and think tanks, consumers must remain the priority, rather than bowing to trends that would provide a short term economical boost, a strategy guided by needs of the customer. The way it is rebuilt determines its success, without an effective and sustainable plan it will result in streets remaining desolate and lifeless. Whether it is approached through integrating the activity of shopping, socialising, working and learning as suggested by Phillips (et al) and Wrigley and Brookes, or letting our high streets pass on, 218 repurposing the land for houses and conducting our lives through the internet as suggested by SMF and Dobson.219 From evaluating the proposed initiatives, it appears that the ‘work, rest and play’ model highlighted by Shaw should encompass all elements needed on our high street made 220 accessible through the concept of 20 minute neighbourhoods. Research on Repair Cafés demonstrates their benefits and how they could contribute to a circular economy, combatting our habits of over consumption whilst uniting local residents as scholars such as Grazano and Trogal and Charter illustrate. Although Repair Cafés will never be the sole saviour for high street 221 revival they offer an opportunity to create another reason for footfall. In the near future, one can only hope to witness a new vision of the high street, that successfully creates a vibrant retail space combined with good community spirit and unity, gaining a new respect and love of the best we have to offer.

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J, Phillips, N, Walford, A, Hockey & L, Sparks, ‘Older People, Town Centres and the Revival of the ‘High Street’’, Planning Theory & Practice, 22:1, 2021,11-26, DOI: 10.1080/14649357.2021.1875030 and N, Wrigley, & E, Brookes, ‘Evolving High Streets: Resilience & Reinvention’, Economic & Social Research Council, 2014, https:// eprints.soton.ac.uk/371883/1/Opinion_Pieces_Southampton_Nov_2014.pdf (Accessed 18th June 2021)

D,A, Adegeest, ‘A UK think tank proposes to "let high street shops die”’ Fashion United, 2020,

219 https://fashionunited.uk/news/retail/a-uk-think-tank-proposes-to-let-high-street-shops-die/ 2020072349971 (Accessed 15th June 2021) and J, Dobson, How to Save Our Town Centres: A Radical Agenda for the Future of High Streets. 1st ed., Bristol University Press, 2015. www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1t895wk. (Accessed 17 June 2021)

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A, Shaw, ‘How to save the UK's crisis-hit High Streets’, BBC, 2020, https://www.bbc.co.uk/ news/business-51094109 (Accessed 7th June 2021) 221 V, Graziano, and K, Trogal, ‘The politics of collective repair: examining object-relations in a postwork society’. Cultural Studies, 31, (5), 2017, pp. 634-658 (doi:10.1080/09502386.2017.1298638) and M, Charter, ‘REPAIR CAFES’, Journal of Peer Production, 2018, https://research.uca.ac.uk/3920/1/jopp_issue12_vol3of3-Charter-repair-cafesarticle.pdf (Accessed 4th June 2021)