The very first Repair Cafe took place in The Netherlands in 2009 and since then they have spread worldwide. The concept is very simple, people bring their broken things that would otherwise be thrown away and replaced to a local, regular venue where volunteers with skills to share try to fix them for free. And whilst all the mending is happening people get to meet their neighbours have the chance to enjoy tea and cake. What’s not to love!
We re-opened our Repair Café in Brislington in January 2022 after a break due to corvid at a new Venue for us St Cuthbert’s Church
The Café will meet at St Cuthbert’s Church Sandy Park Rd, Brislington, Bristol BS4 3PG
Dates are 3rd Saturday of the month 10-12pm starting Jan 20th 2024 ( we do not hold café’s in August or December due to holidays)
all our dates for the year are set up as Facebook events https://www.facebook.com/BS4repair/events where you can like share tag as interested / going or copy the dates to your calendar 🙂
Thanks – St Annes / Brislington Repair Café – BS4
please see the café’s facebook page for more info https://www.facebook.com/BS4repair/
For future events and more info on the group please see our restarters Repair page https://restarters.net/group/view/461
we are also a member of the international repair café’s
https://www.repaircafe.org/en/cafe/bristol-repair-cafe-bs4/
Brislington and St Annes Repair Café have made a real impact fixing electronics and preventing waste. you can see a record of our successful repairs below
equivalent of the CO2 emissions that our group has prevented
JellyTech Academy
BS4 Repair Cafe Resources
On-line Guides
Ever heard of the famous Repair Cafes but no idea how it works ? Here’s a handy guide to find out everything you need to know before going to a Repair Cafe. https://repairtogether.be/en/repair-cafe-instructions-for-use/
- Starting a Repair Cafe https://repaircafewales.org/start-a-repair-cafe/
- the restart network https://therestartproject.org/
- Repair Cafe Org https://www.repaircafe.org/en/community/repair-guides
- iFixit https://www.ifixit.com/Guide
- community repair Network https://communityrepairnetwork.org.uk/
- online manuals https://www.emanualonline.com/
- online manuals https://www.repairmanual.com/
- advice on glues https://www.thistothat.com/
- https://sterepairs.medium.com/how-to-replace-a-thermal-fuse-204e847cbdf1
Local Repair Resources
- Bristol Repair Cafes https://creativemedia.org.uk/bristol-repair-cafes/
- Bristol Repair Café Map https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1bMyzE2hz7OTono8wA0dsDBLpzTYQltA&ll=51.43443424030465%2C-2.6615987897000704&z=13
- National Repair Cafes https://communityrepairnetwork.org.uk/find/
local businesses
- Dr Fixit – phone / tablet repair https://drfixit.tech/about-us/
- bePractical is a new project based in South Bristol. We will be running DIY Workshops aimed at anyone and everyone. https://bepractical.co.uk/
- Manders Home Carpentry https://www.facebook.com/Manders.Carpentry
- A Helping Hand https://www.facebook.com/HelpingHandBris
- Kirk’s Vacuum Rescue Services https://nextdoor.co.uk/pages/kirks-vacuum-rescue-services-bristol-gb-eng/
- Avon Domestics servicing and repairs of all home appliances https://www.avondomestics.co.uk/
- Rewind appliance repairs https://www.rewindappliancerepairs.co.uk/
- MPC Kingswood https://www.mprcgroup.com/ Services: Battery replacement, Button repair, Case repair, Charge port repair, Microphone/speaker repair, Screen repair/replacement
Sources for tools parts and spares
local
- Library of things https://www.sharebristol.org.uk/repair-things/
- https://www.screwfix.com/stores?_requestid=238953 search for local stores
- https://www.toolstation.com/branches/bristol-feeder-road
- https://www.properjob.biz/stores/proper-job-brislington/
On-line
- https://www.uk-spares.com/
- https://www.buyspares.co.uk/
- https://www.espares.co.uk/
- RS (formally Radio Spares) https://uk.rs-online.com/web/
- https://www.ebay.co.uk/
- https://toothbrushbattery.com/
- https://ionicindustries.com/
guidance on recycling almost anything
- https://www.recyclenow.com/
- https://www.recycleyourelectricals.org.uk/
- https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/07/stop-wishcycling-and-get-wise-how-to-recycle-almost-everything
Other Repair café info
Repair & Reuse Declaration
Following the launch of the Repair and Reuse Declaration at Fixfest UK in September, many of us have been working hard to get more MPs signed up – we’re aiming to get 100 signed up before the summer. Have you reached out to yours yet?
If you have, please let Restart know any response they have given – good or bad by emailing Fiona at policy@therestartproject.org. And if not, we have a helpful template letter that you can use to invite them to your next event and ask them to sign the declaration.
Pushing for the Right to Repair in the UK
Want another way to get involved in securing the UK’s Right to Repair? We want as many people as possible to submit to the upcoming public consultation around how we manage electrical and electronic waste (WEEE). Some of us are holding a webinar on this topic on the 21st of Feb if you’d like to learn more!
International Repair Day 2024
On another equally exciting note, planning is underway for International Repair Day 2024! We know that a lot of you are already scheduling your yearly calendar of repair events, so please save the date for Repair Day 2024: the 19th of October. Do consider this when planning your events and try to hold a repair cafe to mark the day or think about other ways to engage your local community to get involved in repair.
From April onwards, we’d encourage you to reach out to any local partners that might want to be involved in Repair Day eg. local businesses, the council, other community groups.
In the summer, The Restart Project will have a promo kit ready so that from then until October everyone can focus on promoting Repair Day, adding it to newsletters, contacting local media and more.
We’ll be in touch with more information and to let you know once the events map is ready for submissions, in the meantime please let me know if you have any questions or ideas for how we can promote and celebrate the day!
Repair Café UK Map
Looking for a Repair café near you then the map on the Community Repair Network’s website displays most of the community repair groups (repair cafés etc.) in the UK. The data comes from a number of sources, including Repair Café International, Restarters.net and many of the other networks within the network (CRN), as well as individual organisers adding their own groups.
Repair Finder
I wanted to share a bit about my side project, The Repair Finder, which was born out of organising the Marlow Repair Café.
Some people would turn up to the Repair Café just wanting something repaired “as a service”. Other people bring in items that need very specific skills or are a bigger project (e.g. antique clocks). We all are aware that a significant barrier to repair is knowing where to go, so I decided to build The Repair Finder for those seeking a commercial repair solution. Think Checkatrade or Trustatrader, but for repair businesses across the UK.
The idea is that repair businesses register and pay a (small) annual fee, which allows them to tailor their profile. Anyone can leave a review for any business (fee paying or not). Profits from the platform will be reinvested back into the repair community.
At the moment I have manually added 2500+ businesses across the UK, but many more are missing. Let me know if your favourite one(s) are not there. Or if you know of (local authority) grants that would pay for my time to search for them in specific areas.
Please use the platform and let me know your thoughts, comments or suggestions.
Please spread the word, in your communities & circles and to your visitors.
Website: www.therepairfinder.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/therepairfinder
Medium: https://medium.com/@therepairfinder/
