Local environmental group Sustainable Wymondham are still buzzing with the success of their recent pop-up Repair Café event, held at Rothbury Community Hall on September 26th.

The group worked in partnership with Repair Café Norwich – veteran organisers with over a decade of local events under their collective belts.

A Repair Café, for those unfamiliar with the term, is a place where people can bring things in to be fixed, rather than thrown away. The repair element is complemented by the opportunity for a drink and a snack from the café element, and even if you don’t have something fixed, a slice of cake is always appreciated! The concept was created in the Netherlands, and there are now repair cafés – official and unofficial – in places all over the world.

Some places have permanent repair cafés, with their own fixed premises. However, often, as is the case with Repair Café Norwich’s set-up, the events are held in community spaces such as halls and libraries on a regular monthly basis.

Sustainable Wymondham wanted to hold this recent event to test the appetite for repair locally. It was promoted widely through local Facebook groups, posters, and word of mouth, and even before the day itself, the team received positive feedback from local people.

Volunteer fixers were recruited via Repair Café Norwich, with skills in IT, electrical repairs, sewing and upholstery repairs, knife sharpening and more. Additional volunteers were also signed up to help with running the day – and with making and selling the refreshments in the café!

Running from 10:30am to 3pm, the event flew by, with dozens of people through the door from start to finish. A total of 60 repair jobs were documented, and over 80% of these were successfully repaired. Those with items that remained unfixed were signposted to other places for help. The most popular repair services were electrical and knife sharpening, but a huge range of items were brought and assessed.

Despite it being free to bring an item for repair, attendees were incredibly generous, and the combined money raised through donations and through the sale of refreshments enabled Sustainable Wymondham to cover all its costs and have additional funds to share with Repair Café Norwich for future events.

There is clearly a want and a need for this kind of event in the town, and Sustainable Wymondham is now planning to launch a regular Wymondham Repair Café, starting in early 2027. For this to be a success, the team will need more help locally – so if you would like to get involved, either as a fixer or just to support the organisation of the events, please contact us by emailing info@sustainablewymondham.org.uk.