CVC REPAIR CAFE

The CVC Repair Café was founded in 2023 on the principles of Repair Café Foundation, and built upon the idea that our possessions have lots of life left in them when we maintain and repair them. Doing this together with others builds social cohesion and combats isolation, while helping reduce the size of our landfills.

​It’s no secret that as a society we throw away vast amounts of stuff unnecessarily. The majority of our waste still goes into landfill and recycling options are often limited. Many products are intentionally designed with built-in obsolescence so that their useful life is shortened and we’re forced to buy new. The knowledge and ability to repair and & ‘make do and mend’ have been lost over the years and valuable practical skills are not being passed down the generations.

It’s becoming more and more apparent that our ‘throwaway’ society, fuelled by over-consumption of cheap goods, is totally unsustainable. 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. Especially younger generations no longer know how to do that. Knowing how to make repairs is a skill quickly lost. This is a threat to a sustainable future and to the circular economy, in which raw materials can be reused again and again.

That’s why there’s a Repair Café! People with repair skills get the appreciation they deserve. Invaluable practical skills are passed on. Things are being used for longer and don’t have to be thrown away. This reduces the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products. It cuts CO2 emissions, for example, because manufacturing new products and recycling old ones causes CO2 to be released.

The Repair Café teaches people to see their possessions in a new light. And, once again, to appreciate their value. Repair Café volunteers also visit schools to give repair lessons. In both these ways, the Repair Café helps change people’s mindset. This is essential to kindle people’s enthusiasm for a sustainable society.

But most of all, the Repair Café just wants to show how much fun repairing things can be, and how easy it often is. Repair Cafés are a hands-on way to learn how this attitude fails both people and the planet and to take practical steps to do something about it. Repair Cafés are helping to change attitudes by presenting an innovative approach to waste reduction, social cohesion and the transference of craft skills, through the act of repairing, upgrading and maintaining a broad range of products. Items regularly brought to Repair Cafés include furniture, household electrical appliances, electronic gadgets and devices, toys, garden equipment, bicycles, clocks, jewellery, ceramics, clothes and textiles...and much more!