A few days left and a bit of honesty
It's been a minute since I sat down and wrote a blog post, and it feels right that the one that brings me back here is about the Repair on the Road crowdfunder, because we're now into the final couple of days and it closes at 9.44am on Friday 6th November.
I want to be honest with you about where I'm at, because I think that's more useful than another polished push. Showing up for something every day for six weeks has taken so much more out of me than I expected, and these last few days I've really struggled to get myself in front of the camera and keep asking. It's not that I've stopped believing in the van, I believe in it more than ever, it's just that putting yourself out there over and over again uses up a kind of energy that doesn't refill overnight.
Why I'm doing this
If you're new here, Repair on the Road is my dream of a mobile repair studio in a van, bringing repair and sewing workshops to festivals, markets and events so that people can sit down together, talk about the clothes they love and learn skills that will last them a lifetime.
I ran a bigger studio once, and after closing it and rebuilding everything from home I've come to realise that the next chapter for me isn't a studio people have to find their way to, it's a studio that travels to them. The van is also something bigger than my own livelihood, because what I'd really love is for it to become a hub that brings repair artists and sewists together, so that this work feels a lot less lonely for all of us.
What the last six weeks have looked like
Since launching at the end of September, together we've raised [£X], and every penny of that is going straight into the van. Along the way some things have happened that I'm super proud of. People have funded mentoring sessions for repair artists and sewists on a low income who would never otherwise have been able to work with me, which was the part of this campaign closest to my heart. I spent International Repair Day live from my repair room talking through my mends and answering your questions, and when we hit the first rung of the Halfway Ladder it meant ten copies of Reclaim Your Worth could go to repair artists and sewists who need help getting paid properly for their work.
There have been some moments that have properly got me too, like my mum pledging, my coach Calypso putting the money they'd set aside for the skydive I was supposed to do, and conversations about where the van could head next year too. And then there are all of you who've pledged, whether that’s a quid, £10 to get your name on the contributors curtain, or shared a post, or sent me a message just when I needed it.
What showing up has taught me
The thing I keep coming back to is that whenever I've shown up, you've shown up too. On the days I've found the energy to talk about the van, someone has pledged or shared it or sent a few kind words my way, and on the days I've gone quiet, things have gone quiet with me. I don't say that to beat myself up, I say it because it's shown me how much this has been a two-way thing all along, and that the van is already doing what I hoped it would do before it's even been bought, which is bringing people together and having them turn up for each other.
I've also learnt that it's ok to be tired and still keep going, and that being honest about how hard something is doesn't make it any less worth doing.
The final push
So this is me showing up for the last stretch, a bit tired but bloody grateful. The crowdfunder closes at 9.44am on Friday 6th November, and it's a Keep What You Raise campaign, so whatever we raise goes into getting this van on the road.
If you've been meaning to pledge, now would mean the world, and there are still rewards from a £10 spot on the contributors curtain right up to booking the van for your own event next year. If pledging isn't possible for you right now, sharing it with one person who you think would love it helps more than you'd imagine. And if you've already backed it, thank you from the bottom of my heart, because you're the reason I've kept going.
Back Repair on the Road here
