how it works

Repair cafés want to help people to prolong the life of their possessions, saving money and  preventing repairable items to go into landfill. 

Our repairers have different levels of knowledge and skills in different areas – from expert/professional to hobby fixer. We understand what they offer as similar to the idea of helping a friend. If your next-door neighbour brought something to you asking for your help, I’m sure you would do what you could. They would understand that and would know that free advice and  assistance from a neighbour is not and cannot be the same as taking something to a professional service organisation.

Please stay with your item. Where possible we will try to show and explain the repair, – spreading the skills – so that visitors may be able to do it themselves next time.

We decided not to pre-book specific timeslots but run a ‘first come first serve’ system on the day because we do not know how long each session with the repairer might take. We will revisit this arrangement after a few Repair Cafés have taken place. On arrival one of our volunteers will ask you read and agree with our house rules and complete a registration form, sign our disclaimer and then match you with an appropriate repairer. You will get a booking number which will be displayed to make queuing easier. 

While you are waiting you are welcome to watch any repairs going on or talk to people waiting. We have refreshments and some reading prepared for you. When it is your turn please take the registration form to your repairer who will hopefully fix your item or give advice about what else you can do. Please complete a feedback form when before you leave. This will help us to improve the next Repair Café.