Care to Repair? How to Start Your Own Repair Café

There are now at least ten Repair Cafés across Cumbria. Could your community be next?! Come along to Cockermouth to find out how to get one started and join us as we celebrate International Repair Day.

Hosted by Cockermouth CAN (Climate Action Now), this practical and friendly event will showcase their recently established Repair Café and share the experience and best practice developed by Repair Cafés across Cumbria.

A panel of experienced local groups will explore the practicalities of setting up and running a Repair Café, including:

• Getting started: local and national support networks, useful resources and where to find help.
• Finding and supporting volunteers: who to approach, how to recruit people and how to keep them involved.
• Money and resources: likely start-up costs, including promotion, equipment, insurance and venue hire, and whether ongoing costs can be covered through donations.
• Health and safety: PAT testing, policies, procedures and keeping everyone safe.
• Getting people through the door: promoting your Repair Café and building a regular following.
• Building community: the social side of repair, from tea and cake to tackling loneliness and creating a sense of purpose and connection.
• Monitoring and evaluation: what to record and why it can be useful.
• The tricky stuff: including what to do when things don't quite go to plan – or you encounter a tricky customer!

There'll also be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, share ideas and connect with others interested in making repair and reuse part of their local community.

A free soup and sandwich lunch will be provided, with donations welcome.