Celebrating repair as resistance and why mending matters.

Breaks & Joins has partnered with St Margaret’s House to create Many Hands: Make Mending Matter, an audio-visual exhibition capturing the people and stories behind the act of repair.

Over two Saturdays in January and April 2025, Sue Mayo and Chuck Blue Lowry documented the energy, care, and collaboration in the wonderful Repair Cafes Repair Cafes at SMH. Volunteers generously share their time and skills, fixing everything from toasters to trousers. Visitors come not just to have their belongings repaired, but to connect, to learn, and sometimes to hear that something couldn’t be mended after all. These exchanges are captured in audio recordings, photographs and original artworks. 

This exhibition is part of Second-Hand September, and highlights repair as a powerful alternative to the wastefulness of throwaway culture. It reminds us that fixing things is not just practical, it’s political.

Many Hands celebrates not just the items that were fixed, but the conversations, shared knowledge, and moments of connection that make mending matter. Together, we use our hands to mend our things and build our community.

About the Tower Hamlets Repair Cafes:
In partnership with the Royal Foundation of St Katharine/The Yurt Community Hub and Poplar Union, we host a series of Repair Cafes on the last Saturday of every month (except May, August and December). Find out more here.

Instagram: @chuckbluelowry @breaks_and_joins

Venue: The Chapel, 21 Old Ford Road, E2 9PL

Access: We are working to make our Grade II listed building more accessible but it will take some time. If you require access support (including our portable ramps), please get in touch via emily@stmargaretshouse.org.uk

Exhibition: Saturday 27th September (10am-6pm) and Sunday 28th September (11am-4pm)