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What is it like to start a Repair Cafe?
How do new repair cafes get off the ground - and what’s involved in setting one up in my community? Chris McCartney charts the story of how repair cafes have emerged across Northern Ireland and considers what’s needed and what support is available to set up a successful community repair project where you are.
It’s 29 February – a day to take a leap! And the South Down Repair Café group are using their extra day to hold their first ever event. Within an hour, the hall is buzzing with local people and their broken toasters, bikes and clothes. The local newspaper pops down and takes pictures; the tea is flowing and there is a steady stream of people coming to see what it’s all about and get involved. The volunteers who have been working to prepare for the day are elated and hope it will be the first of many…
Since we started holding repair cafes, we’ve discovered something restorative and joyful which we think will be valuable to other communities too. Something that strikes a chord with many people from all walks of life, disheartened at having to throw things away unnecessarily, seeking a practical alternative, that feels good and that connects us with each other.
We’ve been working with communities of all shapes and sizes to start repair projects since 2019, with support from Antrim & Newtownabbey Council and the Restart Project in the early days. We take great delight in sharing our story and experience, the values and ethos we have come to treasure and all the practical tips about keeping track of the broken toasters and how to make everyone feel welcome.
Maybe you could get some of this from a manual. In fact, when the first group in Northern Ireland emerged, we had no choice but to figure things out as we went along and learn as much as we could from the internet. Now though, there are real live repair cafes happening around Northern Ireland and you can experience the energy and joy for yourself.
We’ve found that building a relationship and working over a period of time with an emerging group, getting to know them and their local context, allows us to share so much more about the essence of what makes repair cafés work. We hope it will lead to more vibrant repair cafes which are part of the fabric of their local community and which will stand the test of time.
Over the past few years, these relationships have also nurtured the emergence of a lively and supportive network of repair cafes. In October, our first Repair Cafe Gathering was a huge milestone for us. 35 Participants from nine repair cafe groups came together at Repair & Share Foyle’s headquarters for a day of sharing stories, creative problem-solving and hands-on workshops. Suddenly our connections became more alive and we felt part of a collective story, changing the way people all over Northern Ireland relate to their stuff and each other.
It turns out community repair groups are thriving in rural and urban places, involving people of all ages and backgrounds. They might emerge from existing community projects which feel a repair café would fit with what they are already doing, like Hands that Talk charity supporting the deaf community in Dungiven or Laurencetown Community Association in Co Down. Or a repair cafe might be formed by a new group which don’t know each other, but are drawn together by this common interest, like those in Whitehead or the North Coast. Sometimes when a community sees what can be accomplished by a repair cafe, it can seed other projects, like a Community Interest Company in Dromore, upcycling project in Bangor or Repair & Share Foyle’s permanent centre for its library of things, workshops and fixing factory.
Working with these many and varied groups has helped us develop a process that seems to work, with the flexibility to suit the local team and situation. It might include collaborative workshops in the heart of your community, coming to speak at public meetings to get people inspired and hosting your team at an established repair cafe, so they can try it out for themselves. We’ve helped more than a dozen communities to work out how to find volunteers, navigate insurance and what equipment they need to get started. Since March 2025, we’re delighted to have funding from The National Lottery Community Fund to extend this support to more communities.
Every place is different – and every repair café should have a slightly different flavour. We think it’s like taking a cutting from the Repair Café plant and helping new gardeners learn how to nurture it in the local soil and growing conditions.
We are learning that, similar to gardening, there is no need to rush, and taking time to understand the different elements, to prepare the ground and build the team will result in an enjoyable first event and volunteers keen to keep it going. Most groups have taken between three and six months from getting started to their first event.
The truth is you don’t need to be a superhero to run a repair café. There is something magical that happens when we come together with the common purpose of fixing things and building community… but you don’t need magic powers to make it happen. We have found that most of the necessary ingredients to run a successful repair café are there, in every community. At the same time, having someone who’s done it before share their recipe and a few tips can make the process less intimidating and a lot more fun.
If you’d like to explore the idea of a repair cafe for your community, fill in our enquiry form to start a conversation.
Volunteers from other groups working to start a repair cafe join an established group to see how it works behind the scene – and get stuck into fixing!
If you are interested in starting a repair cafe in your community, we would love to explore the idea with you! Get in touch here and let’s start the conversation.
