Today’s Advent Calendar window opens for our Repair Café because there’s one on this Saturday! Starting from 9am and ending at 12 noon on Saturday 10th December, it takes place in ECO HUB at Glamis Hall, Goldsmith Rd, Wellingborough, NN8 3RU. Various volunteer repair experts will be available to help repair your broken items, free of charge. Tools and materials will also be on hand.
People visiting the Repair Café can bring along their broken items from home. Toasters, lamps, hair dryers, clothes, bikes, toys, any portable item that is broken is welcome, apart from microwaves and CRT devices such as old style televisions, and we will do our best to fix it. We will operate a booking system, so you will be given a time slot to avoid waiting too long. Book your time slot now on our Repair Café page!
“By promoting repairs, Wellingborough Eco Group wants to help reduce mountains of waste. This is absolutely necessary! We throw away piles of stuff in the UK, even things which have practically nothing wrong with them, and which could easily be used again after a simple repair. Unfortunately, many people have forgotten that they can have things repaired. Our Repair Café wants to change all that.”
Judy Sumner
Our Repair Café is also meant to put neighbours in touch with each other in a new way, to discover that a lot of know-how and practical skills can be found close to home. If you repair a bike, a hair dryer or a pair of trousers, together with a previously unfamiliar neighbour, you look at that person in a different light the next time you run into them on the street. Jointly making repairs can lead to making new friends in the neighbourhood.
Wellingborough Eco Group points out that repairs can save money and resources, and can help minimise CO2 emissions. But above all, our Repair Café just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is.
The Repair Café concept arose in Amsterdam in 2009, and was formulated by Martine Postma, at the time a journalist/publicist. In 2010, she started the Repair Café International Foundation (see Repaircafe.org/en). This foundation provides professional support to local groups around the world wishing to start their own Repair Café. We have now joined the Repair Café International Foundation and are running our Café according to their guidelines.
Do you like fixing things? We are also seeking more repairers, so if you want to share your skills (whatever they are) to save stuff being thrown away, join us. We would love you to get involved! Message us using the form on the Repair Café page if you are interested.
Feeling Social? If you are on Facebook, we have a group for you too, join in now at Repair Café | Facebook for sharing advice and fixes. The group works on the same principles as our in-person Repair Cafe does, but do be aware that anyone in the community can offer advice, so Wellingborough Eco Group does not take any responsibility for bad advice, if in doubt contact us!
Right to Repair. We have also joined the Right to Repair Campaign, find out more about it here. Wellingborough Eco Group organises a Repair Café on a regular basis at ECO HUB, Glamis Hall, on the second Saturday of every month 9am-12noon. Bring your broken items this Saturday!
Wellingborough Eco Group’s ECO HUB is at Glamis Hall which also has a Christmas Festival on the same day 9:30-4. So, if you want something fixed pop along for the Repair Cafe and then stay for the Christmas Festival. See you on Saturday at ECO HUB for your fix and Glamis Hall for some festive fun for all!