Repair Café

Are you be interested in being part of a Repair Café project?

Postcode Publications will establish and fund a suitable venue for repairers to meet with those who seek repairs, and encourage the principal of using what we already have rather than throwing it away and buying new.

What is a Repair Café?
Repair Cafés are free events where people who have items that need repairing are put in touch with people who have the necessary skills to repair the items. This can include: clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, toys etc. Items are repaired for free but customers are encouraged to make a donation to allow the Repair Café to continue to run.

History of the Repair Movement
The Repair Café was initiated by Martine Postma. Since 2007, she has been striving for sustainability at a local level in many ways. Martine organised the very first Repair Café in Amsterdam in 2009. It was a great success. This prompted Martine to start the Repair Café Foundation. Since 2011, this non-profit organisation has provided professional support to local groups in the Netherlands and other countries wishing to start their own Repair Café.

Why a Repair Café?
We throw away vast amounts of stuff. Even things with almost nothing wrong, and which could get a new lease on life after a simple repair. The trouble is, lots of people have forgotten that they can repair things themselves or they no longer know how. Knowing how to make repairs is a skill quickly lost. Society doesn’t always show much appreciation for the people who still have this practical knowledge, and against their will they are often left standing on the sidelines. Their experience is never used, or hardly ever.

The Repair Café changes all that! People who might otherwise be sidelined are getting involved again. Valuable practical knowledge is getting passed on. Things are being used for longer and don’t have to be thrown away. This reduces the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products. It cuts CO2 emissions, for example, because manufacturing new products and recycling old ones causes CO2 to be released.

The Repair Café teaches people to see their possessions in a new light. And, once again, to appreciate their value.

The Repair Café helps change people’s mindset. This is essential to kindle people’s enthusiasm for a sustainable society.

But most of all, the Repair Café just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is. Why don’t you give it a go?

Clare Seek founder of Portsmouth Repair Café says:
"Setting up Repair Café in Portsmouth last year was an amazingly simple thing to do, as we had so much interest and support for it.  Plenty of people came forward to help and we got a lot of support from Southampton Repair Café that had been running for a few years already.  The network across the country is very supportive; sharing publicity ideas as well as practical advice.  We get people travelling from across the county for help repairing items, so there is definitely a need and we'd be really up for sharing our advice and experience to anyone interested in getting another off the ground.  It's also a really fun monthly event for all concerned... I never knew we'd all get so much satisfaction and joy out of repairing things, so feel free to visit us and see it in action."

Visit: www.repaircafeportsmouth.org.uk/

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