The Repair Shop

Today in the Repair Shop, Jay Blades and the team bring three treasured family heirlooms, and the memories they hold, back to life.Mother and son duo Linda and James Gibson are in desperate need of silversmith Brenton West's help to restore a treasured lead statue of a young man with a dog - that has been part of their family for over 70 years. Originally bought by Linda's parents the statue stood proudly in their garden all through Linda's childhood. The statue was stolen and thought lost forever until several years later it was discovered in a ditch and return to the delighted family damaged. The dashing young man and his faithful hound incurred extensive damage in the incident and is looking very sorry for himself. This is one of the largest projects Brenton has ever undertaken and is determined to get the figure back on his feet again.Next at the barn to meet expert Suzie Fletcher is Dawn Curley from the West Midlands. She has brought her late father's suitcase, which is made from cardboard. This trusty little case carried all of Leopard's possessions on the Empire Windrush voyage from Jamaica in 1948. Leopard settled in the UK, fell in love and had a large family. His daughter Dawn is very proud of what her father achieved despite much prejudice and discrimination and feels compelled to have this crumpled case preserved in his memory.And French polisher Will Kirk repairs a wooden giraffe that belonged to Illona's late husband Steve, who loved the lofty creatures.  She bought it as a gift for him. Tragically, Steve passed away not long after they were married and this giraffe, who she has named Steve, reminds her of the happy times they had together. However, the wood has split and damaged, which rendered the poor thing lame and unstable.