Join or organize a Repair Cafe
Repair Cafes are free meeting places focused on repairing things together. You’ll find tools and materials for fixing clothes, furniture, electronics, bikes, and more, plus expert volunteers with various repair skills. Visitors bring their broken items from home and work with specialists to fix them. It’s a great learning experience. If you have nothing to repair, enjoy a cup of tea or coffee, or help someone else with their repair.
Repair Cafes are excellent Eco Club projects for rural communities. Local specialists can easily get involved since there are many repair areas such as textiles, bikes, or small electronics. Local skills make each Repair Cafe unique, create new bonds, and extend the lifespan of items ♥
Believe me, it’s such an amazing experience to team up, analyze the item together, and try different options to get it fixed. If it works again, I promise you pure happiness.
Quick step-by-step guide
for organizing your own repair event:
1) If you have a question: always check out www.repaircafe.org first.
2) Gather volunteers
3) Find a suitable location
4) Collect tools & equipment
5) Promote your event
6) Host the Repair Cafe
7) Encourage a repair mindset
8) Have fun!
If you’re curious about the repair world and want to start slowly, we recommend the short documentary WEREPAIR. We at Saliko Studio created this piece to highlight how European makers set up Repair Cafes in rural areas.
You will meet our Spanish team, Delia and Micka from Fab Lab Cuenca, and our Portuguese minds Sara and Carlos from Buinho. Our three organisations worked together for the first time on this documentary!! So yes, it’s special to us.
Plus, you’ll be surprised at the various positive effects these makers achieve with their Repair Cafes. So grab some snacks, drinks and be prepared to fall in love with fab labs bringing Repair Cafes to the countryside. Watch the WEREPAIR DOCUMENTARY now.
UPCOMING: We will explore more ways to improve repair skills. Aaaaand. We will create a mobile version of a repair cafe. So exciting! We will keep you posted.
