Sharing learning from Repair Cafe Dudley

We’ve recently been approached by people from both Stourbridge and Wolverhampton who are interested in starting up Repair Cafes and have made contact to learn from Repair Cafe Dudley. This week we ran a 30 minute online session on the topic of Repair Cafes. Three people involved in emerging social lab Wolverhampton for Everyone joined the session; Saffi Price from Wolverhampton VSC, Sam Axtell from Wolverhampton City Council and Make:Shift and Trevelyan Wright from Newhampton Arts Centre

The Repair Cafe was initiated by Martine Postma, who organised the very first Repair Cafe in Amsterdam, on October 18, 2009. This prompted Martine to start the Repair Cafe Foundation which supports people who want to start a Repair Cafe. The foundation simply asks for a one-off fee of 49 Euros and in return provides a digital starter kit, rights to use the the name, logo, promotion and connecting and code to order a free Repair Cafe toolkit. Their website says:

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.

The Repair Cafe teaches people to see their possessions in a new light. And, once again, to appreciate their value. The Repair Cafe helps change people’s mindset. This is essential to kindle people’s enthusiasm for a sustainable society.

But most of all, the Repair Cafe just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is.

Why are people interested in starting Repair Cafes?

We started our online session considering reasons why people are interested in Repair Cafes. For Trevelyan it was partly about co-creating another kind of resource for local people to use, and for Newhampton Arts Centre to develop a new role for the communities who live around the centre. It would be in a similar vein to the Fun Palace they host in that the Repair Cafe would also be led by local people for local people, sharing their own passions and skills. For Sam and Saffi, Repair Cafes are another practical, inspiring project to add to the growing ecosystems of activities they are nurturing through Wolverhampton for Everyone. In particular Repair Cafes can have a positive environmental impact, reducing waste going to landfill, and they can support social and financial inclusion. Sam also thought they might appeal as a hobby for people who tinker at home and may welcome social connection.

In April 2017, eight people responded to an open call out from CoLab Dudley and came together to plan Dudley’s first Repair Cafe. The very first thing we explored was why each person was interested in the idea. Reasons embraced both earth care and people care:

• It’s good to get people thinking about not throwing things away. We can look for alternative uses if we can’t repair things.
• I love upcycling, hate throwing things away. I rescue waste!
• I have recently grown consciousness about what people throw away and how things can be re-used.
• Some people are isolated, this brings people together. It builds community, children can learn too.
• It’s about leveraging skills and talents in an area, and adds to the kinds of projects started already.

The broader context for CoLab Dudley, as for Wolverhampton for Everyone, was a desire to nurture a culture of hands-on doing and sharing through a connected ecosystem of many and varied projects in one location.

A space to carry out repairs… not a service

During the online discussion we considered different ways that Repair Cafes can be run. Some that we have heard about and seen in news features appear to be fairly transactional in nature, with an emphasis on the expertise of a fairly large number of volunteers. In Dudley we don’t see the Repair Cafe as a service. We shaped Repair Cafe Dudley a bit differently, picking up on the Repair Cafe Foundation’s description of Repair Cafes being all about repairing things together. We describe it this way:

The Repair Cafe provides spaces and tools for you to carry out repairs on broken items. Local people with a range of skills are around to give you ideas, suggestions, or a helping hand if needed.

At Repair Cafe Dudley we don’t worry about having all the possible skills or tools that might be needed. We’re not trying to get loads and loads of people through the door on one day. We’re more focused on a regular rhythm and gentle connections which can be sustained by people with an interest, and which responds to the current desire for repairing.

We’ve drawn on learning from running social media surgeries in the borough for 8 years and some sage advice from Nick Booth about simplicity and being there. Before each Repair Cafe we make a call out for both people who can help with repairs this time, and people with things that need repairing.

We’ve adapted the Repair Cafe House Rules to reflect the culture we are nurturing, changing langage around experts and visitors to simply talk about local people.

Friendliness features powerfully in feedback

We have a fun feedback form (below), developed by local people during our initial co-design session. Friendliness stands out in feedback on what people think about Repair Cafe Dudley:

• It is collective and everyone is always friendly.
• You can use things again!
• Ordinary folk lending thier skills to help other odinary folk — awesome!
• People are so friendly.
• Reducing waste, sharing skills, making friends.
• There’s a real buzz. Friendly, informative, welcoming — and soooo pleased that broken appliances can be repaired and not sent to landfill.
• Repairng while making friends and learning skills — what could be better?

A few bits of data and useful information

Repair Cafe Dudley was convened twice in 2017, then launched in a monthly Saturday slot in May 2018 (it’s on the second Saturday of the month, 10am-1pm at gather, 65 High St, Dudley DY1 1PY. All welcome.)

31 people have got involved to date. Most live within a few miles.

People have bought in items which have been broken for as little as 1 day (a gazebo frame) and as long as 1–2 years (a sock, a cardigan and a radio alarm clock).

Over 7 sessions 21 items have been repaired.

People who have bought items to repair often report having repaired other things at home, including a pond fountain pump, jewellery, a kitchen tap, clothing, a gate and a sewing machine.

We’re always happy to chat about our work and activities like Repair Cafe Dudley; pop in to gather for a coffee, or drop us a line: hello@colabdudley.net

What are your experiences of Repair Cafes or other hands-on, practical projects which bring neighbours together?