RESIDENTS across Devon are being urged to hold on to any broken electrical items to help break a world record in Exeter this month.

The Big Fix will be held on Saturday, February 23 and is the headline event of the Third Annual Reuse Week, which showcases the work of Devon’s many and varied Reuse organisations.

All the events, including the Big Fix, are run by local reuse charities and community groups, and this year it will run over the February half-term and will have a family focus.

Reuse Week kicks off on Saturday, February 16 with Turntable in Exeter holding one of its popular bric-a-brac sales.

Turntable’s sustainable garden planters and bird tables are made from recycled wood and are particularly popular. If they don’t have the exact thing you are looking for they would be happy to create something bespoke for your garden.

From Tuesday, February 19 to Saturday, February 23 Tiverton T.A.C.T. is running “Give and Take” events.

These events give people the chance to donate unwanted items and for others, who may need them, to take them away for free. Please feel free to donate any bits you might have and have a good browse while you are there.

On Saturday, February 23 Chagford charity “Proper Job” is running a series of workshops where you can learn how to maintain your bike or have an experienced Bike Fixer look at it for you.

There will be a tool sharpening session and “Sewing with Sue”, so if your skills need an update or you would like advice on a project pop along.

All events incur a small charge and are bookable in advance via Eventbrite.

The same day Dawlish will run its Fix Fest in aid of the Friends of Dawlish Hospital, so pop in with your broken electrical items and see if their professional menders can fix it for free. Home-made cake and refreshments are available as well.

The climax of the week is the BIG FIX. This event is run by Exeter Repair Café and Devon County Council. It aims to beat the record for the most items fixed in one repair café, which currently stands at 232.

The event takes place at Belmont Chapel from 10am to 4pm and residents with faulty possessions like radios, hairdriers, coffee grinders, mobile telephones, curling tongs and computers are asked to take them along on the day.

There will be advice sessions held by a variety of people including upcycler Figgy Chambers (Steampunk Fairy). Tech experts will be on-hand to help you set up a new device or simply get the best from the ones you have.

There will be a teddy bear hospital to make repairs to cuddly toys and Exeter Scrapstore will be there with fun junk modelling sessions for the little ones.

If you have ever wondered what the inside of a mobile phone looks like, then members of the Restart project will have old phones that you can take apart and put back together.

Cllr Andrea Davis, the chairman of the Devon Authorities Strategic Waste Committee said: “Reuse Week is all about encouraging people to think before they throw something away when maybe someone else could use it or perhaps, with a bit of TLC, it could be repurposed or repaired.

“Throughout the week charities, enterprises and community groups who run reuse-related projects will be showing what they do and how they get the most out of things we no longer want.

“The finale of the week is the Big Fix. More than 75 per cent of the small electrical items that come into our recycling centres are repairable and I would urge everyone who is about to throw a broken electrical appliance away to bring it along.

“There are so many skilled fixers working in Devon’s Repair Cafes and I’m sure we have a good chance of breaking the record - but we need your broken gadgets to do it.”