Meet the menders
Download the PDF
Contents
A screenprint of a British neighbourhood at dusk. People mend the roof of a brick community hall, repaint a bench, tend an allotment, fix a footbridge over a stream and talk around a table. A coral thread is stitched across a tear in the dark ground and runs on through the scene as a path and a washing line.

Meet the Menders

If our social fabric is frayed, who’s fixing it?

A Discussion Paper by Kinship Works for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation

Contents

Acknowledgements

This report is the product of a significant team effort. Gavin Freeguard led the early work through interviews, site visits, and drafting emerging insights. Laura Dewar supported the qualitative depth interviews while Emily Macaulay managed the project and kept it all running smoothly. James Plunkett worked on drafting and additional interviews and site visits, and Anna Dent got the work over the line with a much-needed edit. Yunhan Fang brought the material to life brilliantly with her design and digital skills.

With thanks also for feedback from the team at Joseph Rowntree Foundation: Yasmin Ibison, Katie Schmuecker, Rachel Casey, and Josh Westerling. And thanks most of all to our many interviewees and visit hosts for so generously sharing your time and insights.