The idea
Our aim is to set up a repair café in the centre of Walsall, bring people together, empower the community, save the planet and eat cake. Simple really!
A Repair Cafe is a community space where people can bring their broken household items to be fixed by specialist volunteers who will share their knowledge with the community.
Although initially conceived and facilitated by Urban Hax staff, our aim is to engage with volunteers to help set up and take ownership of the repair café thereby empowering the local community, providing opportunities to learn new or use existing skills and control the direction of travel.
This initial funding will allow us to draw together the team and resources to plan and run the café for the first 6 months. After this we see the café becoming self-sustaining.
Repair Café Walsall is a great opportunity for the local community to help save the planet, meet people, enjoy a chat with tea and cake, and learn new skills in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.
What we'll deliver
- Set up the infrastructure for the repair café
- Run monthly repair cafes for a period of 6 months
- The chance to learn new or utilise existing skills
- A place for the community to socialise with others
- PAT testing of all electronic equipment
- PAT testing training for 4 volunteers
- An integrated café element providing refreshments
- A reduction in items going to landfill
Why it's a great idea
Reducing waste is a key part of any Repair Cafe, re-using old broken goods instead of sending them to landfill can significantly reduce our impact on the planet.
Repair is better than recycling
Repair saves you money
Repair connects people with things
Repair teaches skills
Repair is independence
Repair saves the planet
But there's more.
A Repair Cafe has a multitude of benefits; bringing the community together in a world of growing social isolation is an incredibly important part of the project. Having community spaces where people can gather and learn new skills is vital for community spirit and has a positive impact on mental health. Places to build relationships and have fun.
We aim to provide inspiration, as well as practical skills, allowing people to come in and observe repairs and tell us about their own ideas. We hope the Repair Cafe will also be a gateway to our wider project allowing people to collaborate, repair or rework items, or create things for themselves.
Steps to get it done
- Establish the initial delivery team by May 2025
- Purchase additional equipment needed for delivery
- Deliver the first Repair Cafe in June 2025
- Run monthly Repair Cafes until November 2025
- Evaluate the sustainability for the next 12 months
In a world of growing social isolation, repair cafes are proving to be popular as a meeting spot. This social aspect is an upside being experienced at repair cafes internationally.
The café is an integral part of the Repair Café Experience.
Through Urban Hax, Repair Café Walsall has already signed up to the Repair Café Foundation and as such is aligned to an already successful model run in a number of countries.
The Repair Café Foundation has the following goals:
a) to bring back repairing into local society in a modern way.
b) To maintain repair expertise and to spread this knowledge
c) To promote social cohesion in the local community by connecting neighbourhoods from very different backgrounds and with different motives with each other through an inspiring and low key event.
