Hathersage Repair Café

Happy 3rd birthday to the Repair Café at Hathersafe Methodist Church.

The Repair Café was started in October 2021 and runs on a Saturday morning once every three months. Volunteer experts are on hand to help with small electricals, clothes and textiles, knife sharpening, houseplant revival, furniture/french-polishing, bicycle repairs and 'deep cleaning'. Refreshments are also served and everyone is welcome to drop in, whether bringing something for repair, or just for a cuppa and chat.

The Repair Café movement started in The Netherlands in 2009 and there are now over 2,000 across the world. The idea of a Repair Café is to help protect the planet, by prolonging the life of stuff so that it stays out of landfill, and by encouraging people to repair and re-use items.

During its first three years Hathersage Repair Café has repaired a total of 912 items, including 80 electrical items, 99 pieces of furniture, 101 items of clothing, 20 bicycles and 422 tools or knifes sharpened. Repairs and advice are completely free. Donations are used to cover the cost of refreshments and any surplus is channelled to good causes, and in the first three years £1,865 has been split between Christian Aid, Tools with a Mission and local foodbanks.

Hathersage Repair Café is a joint project of the Methodist and Anglican churches in Hathersage, with bicycle repairs kindly provided by Alpkit. For future Repair Café dates visit our website www.hathersagemethodist.org.uk.