What is a Repair Café?
Repair Cafés are free meeting places and they’re all about repairing things (together). In the place where a Repair Café is located, you’ll find tools and materials to help you make any repairs you need. On clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, et cetera. You’ll also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in all kinds of fields.
Visitors bring their broken items from home. Together with the specialists they start making their repairs in the Repair Café. It’s an ongoing learning process. If you have nothing to repair, you can enjoy a cup of tea or coffee. Or you can lend a hand with someone else’s repair job. You can also get inspired at the reading table – by leafing through books on repairs and DIY.
How did it start?
This first Repair Café was organised by Martine Postma in Amsterdam, on October 18, 2009. It was such success it prompted her to start Repair Café International Foundation, a non-profit organisation providing professional support to both local groups in the Netherlands and across the world. There are now over 2,500 Repair Cafés worldwide. Visit one in your area or start one yourself!
