Why The Repair Shop can teach you everything you need to know about fundraising

There's a show that I unexpectedly really got into at the start of the pandemic. It regularly moved me to tears, and still does. I'd like to tell you all about it and why I think it can teach us everything we need to know about fundraising in a moment. But first, if you haven't seen the show before, please bear with me and watch either or both of the little clips embedded in this blog to get an idea about the programme. I bet those of you who have seen the show will be watching the clips again in any case. Meet you back here. Did you shed a tear? So the basic premise is that people bring their treasured, broken objects, mementos and heirlooms to The Repair Shop in the hope that its talented crafts people can restore them to their former glory. And I wasn't alone in stumbling across the show at the start of lockdown. The 'sleeper hit' has become hugely popular. I think it might be because of its feelgood element, or perhaps because in these strange and uncertain times, many of us don't need escapism as much as a return to simpler joys. And let's be clear, my tears are definitely tears of joy on watching this programme. But why do I think it can teach us so much about fundraising? OK, here goes: It's about storytelling A "programme in which they repair stuff" shouldn't be compelling viewing. It's only made so because we hear people's stories, and what the objects mean to them. And within each episode, we have the "will they be able to restore it?