Llandrindod Repair Cafe logo

The Repair Café has returned to CELF*

Learn to mend your broken items yourself with support from skilled volunteers

Enjoy giving your things a new lease of life and appreciate them again

Help reduce waste and stop things going to landfill - be part of the circular economy!

 

Llandrindod Repair Café has been running since June 2014, and was chosen by The Guardian as one of 17 top community projects from around the UK in their "Live Better" Community Project series. In 2019 it celebrated its 1,000th repair. The Repair Café idea began in Amsterdam in 2007 and has since been taken up all round the world. No charge but the cost of any parts must be paid for and donations towards running costs are always gratefully received

 

Second Saturday of the month 2 - 5pm

CELF Tremont Road  Llandrindod Wells LD1 5EB

* PLEASE NOTE - The Hive can no longer accept items for repair or collection unless by special arrangement with the Repair Cafe

 

**** VOLUNTEERS NEEDED including FIXERS WITH SUITABLE SKILLS, GENERAL and ADMIN HELPERS ****

 

Enquiries via our Facebook page or email llandrindodrepaircafe@gmail.com 

 

Put your unused tools to good use!

The Repair Café is an official collection point for Tools for Self Reliance Cymru. Have a clear-out of any unwanted tools or sewing machines and we will help put them to good use. The Repair Cafe has a list of wanted tools, but most items will be accepted (especially workshop tools). Items can be brought to The Hive, South Cres, Llandrindod Wells LD1 5DH between 10 - 4 Monday-Frioday.

 

More information

Download a copy of the Repair Cafe house rules

Facebook logoVisit the Llandrindod Repair Café pages on Facebook

Check out our photo archive on Flickr


2nd Saturday of every month except December & January.

10th Feb • 9th Mar • 13th Apr • 11th May • 8th Jun • 13th Jul • 10th Aug • 14th Sep • 12th Oct  • 9th Nov

check out the Facebook page for further details
 

THROW IT AWAY? NO WAY!

What do you do about a wobbly chair, a broken zip, a faulty toaster, a flat bike tyre? Few people consider repairing even small defects and many things get thrown away too soon as knowledge of how to mend things is vanishing. However, change is on its way!  Local Repair Cafés are on the rise and becoming very popular.  They are simply monthly gatherings where neighbours can learn to fix their broken items themselves, with support from skilled volunteers whilst enjoying a cuppa.

The idea is that any faulty item which is reasonably portable can be considered for repair.  Help and advice with repairs is free, but if your item is successfully mended a donation will help to fund the service.

Your Repair Café wants to show you how much fun it can be to give your things a new lease of life and how easy it often is. Bring out your broken belongings and give it a go!

In July this year, Llandrindod Repair Cafe celebrated its 5th anniversary with festive cakes, balloons, speeches and, of course, repairs. Much has been achieved since its launch and we are very proud to be Wales' longest running Repair Cafe. Well over 1000 faulty household items have been fixed, we've been interviewed on local radio, appeared in the papers, won an award - but most of all we've all had a lot of fun and satisfaction from doing something positive.
Close to 70% of items handled go out in a much better state than when they came in. However, too many items remain difficult or impossible to repair, especially electrical goods. This must change, but until then our and other Repair Cafes will keep rebelling against the throwaway culture as best they can.

Our Repair Cafe is here not just to repair things and prevent things going to landfill, but to enjoy repairing together, bring back forgotten skills and learn something useful. It's all about the idea that repairing is fun and the right thing to do. In fact, no repairing event is the same. We've had an interesting assortment of items come through the door over the years and it is never dull!
The Cafe also hosts a Freegle table for re-use of small unwanted items, and collects tools for TFSR Cymru - a local charity which helps families in Africa make a better living.

Our thanks go to the Celf Centre for the provision of their excellent space and also to our visitors for supporting us over the last 5 years.
More than anything, we would be nowhere without our handy fixers, who turn up each month to fix broken stuff! One memorable comment we received after a successful repair sums it up: " It is a combination of brains, brawn and bravery! "
These people truly are our new heroes and on our 5th anniversary we want to celebrate them, and all our hardworking volunteers, for making our Repair Cafe a continuing success.

Martina Holmes
LRC organiser  

A great milestone reached at February's Repair Café - 1000 items fixed since we began in 2014!

Diolch yn fawr iawn to all of our talented fixperts who have made this possible, and of course to all of you who take the time to bring items to the Repair Cafe to be fixed rather than throwing them away - together we're making a real difference!

The August Repair Cafe has been buzzing with activities. Some of the repairing highlights which were saved from going to the tip included a classic-style toaster, two children's bicycles, a dining chair, a large garden umbrella and a pair of spectacles. In addition the Cafe also hosted demonstrations on how to make your own reusable shopping bags from recycled textiles during the afternoon. Volunteers from the Hereford Morsbags group showed Repair Cafe visitors how easy and fun it is to make these sturdy washable bags from a very simple pattern. Each bag is completely unique and you can go as creative as you like when making them.

The Morsbags idea began in 2007 and hundreds of thousands are now made worldwide as a response to the hideous numbers of plastic bags polluting and damaging our environment. All bags made are handed out completely free of charge and all that is asked is that you use them instead of a plastic bag.

Several people had a go at sewing their own individual bag from a choice of colourful recycled fabrics. Good quality donated fabric to make the bags such as curtains, tablecloths and remnants were all used to fashion these attractive shopping bags.

The bags were very simple to make in around 15 - 20 minutes under tuition from the ladies of the Hereford Morsbags circle who kindly donated their free time for this event. Many visitors also carried a ready-made Morsbag home for replacing their old plastic carrier bags.

If you fancy creating one yourself at home, you can find the free Morsbags pattern here.

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Image link to Llandrindod Acorns project page