Visit a Repair Cafe

Repair Cafes are community events that match people who need stuff fixed, with people who like fixing things. The international Repair Cafe movement started in Amsterdam in 2009. There are now over in 600 Repair Cafes in the UK and over 3,000 internationally. Repair Cafes are non-commercial and focus on bringing people together to share skills and reduce the environmental burden of consumption.

Most Repair Cafes will accept: household electrical items, toys, clothes, bikes, jewellery, tools, soft furnishings, bags and more, but this will vary from one Repair Cafe to the next depending on the skills of the volunteer repairers available. Here are some more considerations on what sort of items we accept:

• We're not professional repairers and so do best with items that do not carry high sentimental or financial value. As explained in our Repair Agreement, your item may be broken further during the course of the repair.
• Our repair slots are usually 45 minutes long. More complex repairs may require more than one visit e.g. we may identify the fault and recommend that you buy a spare part at one Repair Cafe and then complete the repair at the next.
• We don’t accept some items on safety grounds, for example microwaves and old TVs can hold a charge and so are not accepted at our Repair Cafes
• We want to promote local repair businesses, such as local mobile phone and computer repair shops, so we may direct you to them rather than offering to repair your item for free. That said, if you’d struggle with the cost of a professional repair, just let us know and we’ll see what we can do.
• There are some limitations to the types of repairs that we can take on due to our insurance, for example, we can use soldering irons and heat guns but not other heat processes such as welding.

Yes, all our repairs are free. Repairers volunteer their time to help people get things fixed. We welcome donations to support our growing network and different groups fundraise at Repair Cafes for all sorts of local causes.

There is some variation in the way that Repair Cafes are run as each is organised by a different community group. Most Repair Cafes will have a booking system e.g. a link to an online form or an email address for you to book items in in advance. Please tell the organisers as much as possible about your item, the fault and anything you’ve already done to try to get it fixed. This will increase the likelihood that your item is fixed. Repairs may over-run and you may have to wait a little even if you have a booking. Nearly all Repair Cafes will also leave a portion of slots for walk-ins on the day so, even if you don’t manage to book in, you may still be able to get something fixed on the day!

When you arrive at the Repair Cafe you’ll be asked to sign a copy of our Repair Agreement. This agreement sets out our house rules. If there is anything that you are uncomfortable with, please speak to the organiser before getting your item seen. When your repairer is ready, you’ll be asked to bring your item to their repair bench. Your slot will usually be about 45mins long (although this can vary across Repair Cafes). We ask that you stay with your repairer, or at least within the Repair Cafe, whilst your item is being fixed so that you can see what’s involved in the repair.

Repairers will have access to common low-cost items (e.g. screws, clips, batteries, fuses etc) in our shared toolkit, which they may provide free of charge.  If you need something more substantial, the repairer will help you to identify the part, and suggest where you might be able to order it. You can then bring the broken item and spare part along to the next Repair Cafe.

If your item has a mains plug then it needs to be PAT tested before it leaves the Repair Cafe. The organisers will confirm whether your item needs to be PAT tested and mark the appropriate box on the Repair Agreement. It is your responsibility to take the item to the PAT test table to be tested after the repair. Failure to do this will mean your item is not covered by our insurance. You can read our PAT test policy here.