The Repair Cafe, hosted by Friends of the Earth Chester & District, opened its doors to visitors.

The Repair Cafe, which takes place once a month at Hoole Community Centre, welcomed members of the public with their broken items to great success. From toasters and trikes to computers and clothes… anything that is broken is welcome. The team of volunteer repairers cover a range of disciplines and are on hand to help you breathe life back into your well loved items.

By promoting repairs, the Chester Repair Cafe team want to help reduce mountains of waste and save you money in the process. This is absolutely necessary, according to Chester Repair Cafe Lead, Kerry, “We throw away loads of stuff! Even things which practically have 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, don’t know where to go, or are put off by cost. Chester Repair Café wants to change all that.”

Kerry points out that repairs can save money and resources, and can help minimise CO2 emissions. “But above all, Chester Repair Café just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is.” Whether you’re sharing skills, or chatting over a cuppa, Chester Repair Café brings the community together in a new way.

The Repair Café concept arose in Amsterdam in 2009, and in 2010 the Repair Café International Foundation was formed. This foundation provides professional support to local groups around the world wishing to start their own Repair Café and supports the Repair Café in Chester.

Chester Repair Cafe have already repaired over 30 items across 2 events, with 9 vacuum cleaners, 4 laptops and 5 bikes being attended to, as well as 13 items of clothing!

The next Chester Repair Cafe will take place on Saturday, December 14th from 10.30am till 12.30 at Hoole Community Centre.

Repairs and refreshments are free but donations are welcomed to cover costs. Please check social media for updates and/or email chesterrepaircafe@gmail.com if you’ve any questions about what items we can repair or would like to get involved.