How it works
Bring it broken, take it home working
What can I bring?
Lamps & toastersRadios & kettlesPhonesZips & seamsJumpers & jeans
Household electronics, mobile phones, clothes & textiles. One item per visit — and it goes home with you either way.
Which menders can make it varies month to month — we post the line-up on Facebook the week before.
What happens when I arrive?
- 1
No booking — first come, first served, since repair times vary.
- 2
House rules, registration form, disclaimer — then you're matched with a mender and get a booking number.
- 3
Kettle's on while you wait — watch repairs, chat, have a read.
- 4
Stay with your item — your mender shows the fix where they can, so you might do it yourself next time.
- 5
Feedback form on the way out — it helps the next one run better.
Free, neighbourly help — professionals to hobby fixers. Not a repair shop, and that's the point.
Good to know
House rules
All repairs are made free of charge, by volunteers giving their time.
- Wherever possible, you make the repair yourself — the menders are there to help and to show you how.
- Because repairs are made by unpaid volunteers, neither the organisers nor the menders are liable for any loss — whether from advice given, repairs made, or items handed over.
- You bring items at your own risk, and repairs come with no guarantee — we can't be liable if something stops working again at home.
- New parts — leads, plugs, fuses, zips — are paid for separately.
- A mender may decline a repair, and isn't obliged to reassemble something that can't be fixed.
- Whatever happens, your item leaves with you — including anything that couldn't be repaired.
- One item per person — a second item goes to the back of the queue.
- Please read and sign the disclaimer before your repair.
A voluntary donation is greatly appreciated.
Read the full disclaimer
Disclaimer
By bringing an item to the Repair Café, I understand:
- I bring items to be repaired at my own risk.
- The fact that the repairs are being performed by unpaid volunteers reflects the allocation of risks and limitation of liability. Neither the organisers of the Repair Café nor the repair experts are liable for any loss that may result from advice or instructions concerning repairs, for the loss of items handed over for repair, for indirect or consequential loss or for any other kind of loss resulting from work performed in the Repair Café.
- Repairers may choose not to attempt to repair my item. This could be for safety or any other reason. Sometimes a professional repair service is needed — if we can, we'll suggest a local provider.
- Repairers may take my item apart and not put it back together again, for example if the item is unsafe or broken beyond repair.
- If batteries, leads, plugs, fuses, zips or other consumables are needed, I need to provide them, or buy them at the Repair Café if in stock.
- I have to stay with the repairer while my repair is being carried out. If I can work with the repairer and pick up new skills, that's even better!
- I have to take my item away with me when I leave, even if it's not been possible to fix it.
- If I have more than one item, it will be looked at if repairers have time, but I will have to go to the back of the queue if there is one.
- If I've brought children with me, I'm responsible for their behaviour and safety.
- Photographs or video may be taken at the Repair Café and used for publicity purposes. If I don't want photographs or video of me to be used this way, I will let the organisers know.
Questions
FAQ
What is a repair café?
A group of skilled community menders who help you repair small household items, textiles and furnishings — things that would otherwise end up in landfill because they're not worth taking to a professional repairer.
What items can you repair?
It depends on the station. Sometimes the mender guides you — showing you the skills, techniques and tools to mend it yourself, like re-webbing or recovering an old chair seat, patching a hole in clothing, or sorting a problem with your bike. At other stations the mender does the repair where possible — sharpening kitchen knives and scissors, simple bike fixes, small electrical items (where it's electrically safe), jewellery, or a small rip in upholstery. Please read the disclaimer before you agree to have your item fixed.
Is there a charge or cost?
Repairs should be available to anybody, regardless of financial status, so everything is done on a voluntary donation basis and menders give their time unpaid. If a repair needs a new part, we just ask you to cover its cost — sometimes that means buying the part and bringing the item back next month. Bigger jobs are beyond the Repair Café; the mender will tell you if a professional repair is needed, but never that it has to be their professional service. Donations cover our running costs and insurance, and any surplus goes to local community projects.
How do I know who'll be there each month?
The week before each Repair Café we post the range of repair skills attending that month on our social media. On the day, repairs are first come, first served.
I can fix things — how can I help?
Amazing! Get in touch through our Facebook page (facebook.com/BalsallHeathRepairCafe) or email BalsallHeathRepairCafe@gmail.com and we'll get back to you.
Get in touch
Find us · join us
Handy with a soldering iron or a sewing machine? We'd love more menders. Or just come and say hello.