We’ll help fix your broken electrical goods, repair toys and furniture, sharpen tools and help mend clothing. We now have an expert on leather repairs too. Repairs and refreshments are free as we rely solely on donations from grateful members of the public to help cover our costs.

If you would like to volunteer to help as a fixer or in any other capacity, please contact us using the details on our web page.

Hungerford’s 2025 Repair Cafés will be held from 10am to 12.30pm in the Croft Hall in Hungerford on:

• Sat 19 July 2025
• Sat 20 September 2025
• Sat 15 November 2025

May 2025

Where would you expect to find a snowman and a hobbit lamp sharing company with kettles, toasters, vacuum cleaners and garden shears? Answer: in a Repair Café of course! In this case, these were brought into Hungerford Repair Café last Saturday where we fixed or gave advice on 42 items brought in by the public. Only four items, representing 5kg of potential recycling were not repaired for a variety of reasons, but another 4 were taken home by the volunteer to be able to spend more time on the repair.

One of our visitors said: “I felt a very pleasant visit for my first to repair café. Thank you”. The owner of one of the items we could not rescue said: “Fantastic service. Thank you, volunteers. Worth a try”. Yet another visitor said “Thrilled that Graeme managed to get it working again. Great stuff”.

Some of the items repaired were quite heavy. For example we fixed a couple of broken legs on a 20kg gazebo, and the snowman weighing in at 7kg will hopefully be fitted with a new motor at our next Repair Café event. As a result, we have kept an estimated 136kg away from the recycling centre. Having lost 5kg to recycling, we think that is a good result for a morning spend in the company of skilled volunteers and grateful public.

Our next event will be held at the Croft Hall in Hungerford on July 19th 2025. For more information, you can find us on Facebook at Hungerford Repair Café.

March 2025

Hungerford Repair Café opened its doors to the public again on Saturday 15 March in the Croft Hall in Hungerford. As the Hall has been having its own repairs and improvements, we had to run the café without a kitchen. We are very grateful to Costa Coffee in Hungerford who gave us free paper coffee cups as we had no washing-up facilities. They even took back the used cups for recycling. Many thanks.

At this event, of 61 items brought in for our volunteers to help mend, we had to declare 15 of them as “beyond economic repair”. Sadly, this represents about 37 kg of products that we failed to save from being thrown away.

Increasingly, modern products for the home rely on small electronic circuits, without which the product is completely useless. One example of this was a portable oven which would not turn on because a small electronic circuit had failed. We were able to determine that the oven itself, including the heating element were fine, but without the electronics, the controls would not operate the oven. Looking on-line, we could not find any spare parts for this oven, and the seller could not offer a repair service. Being a large item, this represented almost half of the 37kg destined for the skip.

What a shame! Our volunteers are dedicated to avoiding unnecessary waste, and it is frustrating when we are unable help. UK and EU legislation is attempting to force manufacturers to provide repair information and spare parts under what is known as the “Right to Repair” law. Unfortunately, there is a long way to go before legislation is comprehensive enough to apply to everything we buy. The law currently only applies to certain home appliances and TVs. Manufacturers are only compelled to provide spares and information to professional repair services and repairs are often more expensive that a new product.

The good news is that we did manage to rescue the other 46 items brought in. For example, the jewellery box pictured was covered with many intricately shaped mother-of-pearl pieces, some of which had fallen off. Our volunteer painstakingly glued the saved pieces back in the right places – rather like completing a jigsaw puzzle. Well done, John.

Our next event is scheduled to take place at 10am to 12.30pm on 17 May in a newly refurbished Croft Hall in Hungerford.

January 2025

Hungerford Repair Café held its first event for 2025 in the Croft Hall on Saturday 18 January. We undertook over 70 repairs, a testament to the fact that this event is growing in popularity. Fortunately, we also had an extraordinary turnout of 26 volunteers manning the café and repair tables; covering all kinds of household items that our public bring to us for help. One happy visitor said “Absolutely fantastic! Such enthusiasm from the repair team. Ian was my magician today.”

One item brought in was a 1940s gilded table lamp that had first been brought to us in November. The lamp had been in the family for many years but had stopped working. At that time, we had to inform the owner that the wiring was unsafe and that the lamp should not be used. It was decided then that a restoration was in order and our volunteer Chris dismantled the lamp so that its owner could take the parts home to work on.

Meanwhile, a new braided cable was ordered to renew the wiring. The owner, having restored the individual parts of the lamp brought it back last Saturday for Chris reassemble and install the new cable. As you can see in the photograph, both Chris and the owner were very pleased with the result. “Simply amazing,” the owner said. “I have an ancient lamp that works again.”

This is a great example of a collaborative repair. By bringing in your broken item, we may be able to work together to give your item a new lease of life. In some cases, two or more volunteers might collaborate to bring different skills to bear on a complex problem.

We’ll be holding more events in 2025. Our schedule is to hold an event on the third Saturday of every odd-numbered month. Our next Hungerford Repair Café event will be held in the Croft Hall in Hungerford from 10 am to 12.30 pm on Saturday 15 March.

November 2024

Hungerford Repair Café hosted its final event of 2024 at the Croft Hall last Saturday. Mike Gilbert was pleased to report it was a successful morning, welcoming 43 visitors seeking help with their broken items. “It is inevitable with this many visitors that some may have to wait a little to have their item seen by a volunteer. But our café was busy all morning serving tea, coffee and cakes as waiting visitors chatted, sipped and watched repairs taking place around the hall.”

“Of the 50 items brought in, 43 were successfully repaired, saving 67 kg of waste from recycling centres. Our new leather expert Natalie recovered the mallet of one gentleman’s dinner gong so he can now resume calling his guests to dinner with the gong. Fixers repaired a hand blender and butter churn for Hungerford Food Community to use in their cooking demonstrations.

Another lady brought in a transistor alarm-radio that until recently had given her a reliable wake-up call with her favourite radio station for the last 45 years until something went wrong and she could only tune in a station that was not to her liking. Electronics expert Chris found the fault so this treasured radio alarm can continue its service for many more years.”

Over the six Hungerford Repair Cafes in 2024, 256 items were repaired or advised on, reducing waste by more than 500 kg.
The Repair Cafe will return 10am to 12.30pm Saturday 18 January and continue on the third Saturday of every other month, at the Croft Hall.

September 2024

On Saturday 21 September Hungerford Repair Café opened its doors again at the Croft Hall to help local folk fix their broken things. In all, we weighed about 60kg of household products that otherwise may have ended up in landfill or as recycled electronic waste. People who visited us were unanimous in their thanks for items that now have an extended life and we all enjoyed taking part in a fun social project.

According to the Restart Project, our Repair Café is just one of over 650 community repair organisations in the UK. We are part of a burgeoning global movement which is encouraging manufacturers to make things repairable, governments to put in place workable regulations and people to exercise their right to repair what they own. The UK is the second largest producer of electronic waste per capita in the world. Without action, this problem will get worse as we consume and discard more and more household products.

Repair Café International, founded in Amsterdam, celebrates its 15th anniversary on Friday 18 October 2024. To mark the occasion, there will be a Repair Café “XL” in The Hague where the Dutch government is housed. Hungerford Repair Café has sent a bunting flag made by Beverley, one of our volunteers, to be strung up with hundreds of such flags from Repair Cafés around the world. The flag shown here includes images of our canal bridge, a canal boat and the clock tower of the town hall. Hungerford Repair Café is named on the other side. Well done, Beverley! Hungerford is proud to be part of an international effort to help reduce waste and prolong the life of our treasured possessions.

May 2024

Hungerford Repair Café opened its doors again last Saturday at the Croft Hall to welcome visitors from around the region with their repair jobs. It was another very successful morning as we had a constant flow of visitors. Visitors brought many everyday items such as vacuum cleaners and toasters, but also some more unusual repairs such as a vintage sewing machine and a wind-up music box. Of 53 items brought in, we helped to fix 37 and offered advice on how to deal with a further eight. The remainder were deemed past their useful life, but it is good to know that before throwing something away. In all we kept well over 100 Kg of items out of landfill or recycling centres.

One lady brought in a radio that had stopped working. She also brought along her two children who can be seen in the attached photo listening intently to our volunteer Andrew as he explained what he was doing.  Hopefully they will grow up understanding that we don’t need to throw something away when it stops working, and will be more confident about trying to fix things themselves. The lady was delighted with the repair, and said “Whoop – I’ve got my radio back! It’s perfect, a real wow moment. There was even tea and coffee.”

Hungerford Repair Café runs every two months, usually on the third Saturday of the month. We will open our doors again on July 20 in the Croft Hall in Hungerford.

March 2024

Meet Michele (below). Michele is 59 years old and until recently was unable to sit up by herself. Michele’s owner Sarah Fradgley, who was given the doll when brand new, went to Hungerford Repair Café last Saturday to see if the volunteers there could help to put some life back into her. The ladies with the needles rose to the challenge, and as a result Michele can now sit up straight and has been washed and dressed in clean Spring clothes. Sarah is delighted.

You might think this story is similar to those aired on the popular TV series Repair Shop butHungerford Repair Café organiser Mike Gilbert says there is an important distinction. Mike says: “We want to help people repair their own things”. Mike goes on to say: “Our volunteers are experts in many different fields and are happy to share their knowledge and tools to get the job done. We enjoy fixing your things, but we are delighted if we can help you fix something yourself”.

So, whether it is a 59 year old doll, or a 2 year old kettle, the volunteers at Hungerford Repair café will have a go. Last Saturday, they welcomed 45 visitors to the Croft Hall in Hungerford. They managed to fix 68% of the items brought in and were able to suggest what parts to buy so that they could fix a further 19% on a subsequent visit. This represents about 78 kg of “stuff” that might otherwise have been recycled or sent to landfill.

Returning to Michele, Repair Café volunteers Hazel and Maddy helped to give Michele some backbone. Hazel loves fixing things so much that she and some colleagues have re-opened the Newbury and Thatcham Repair Café. The first event in Thatcham will be at the Frank Hutchings Community Hall on Sunday 24 March from 10am to 12.30pm.

Hungerford Repair Café will open its doors again on Saturday 25 May in the Croft Hall in Hungerford. Look forward to seeing you there!

September 2023

Hungerford Repair Café opened its doors at the Croft Hall again last Saturday 16 September to help people fix their broken things in a sociable and friendly setting. We helped to fix, or offered advice on fixing about 40 items during the 2.5 hours we were open. We estimate this represents about 80kg of material that could have potentially ended up in landfill.

People often ask us “I have (something) that is broken. Can you help me fix it?” In general, we will try to help with electrical and electronic goods, clothing, furniture, crockery, housewares, bicycles, toys etc. Anything that’s broken (and which you can manage to carry on your own to the Repair Café) is welcome and has a good chance of getting repaired. If you wish to know if we can help you fix something, please get in touch using the contact details on our web page below. But often we need to see the item before we know ourselves. For example, one lady brought in a beautiful sun parasol with a broken pole. Fortunately our volunteer was able to reconnect the parts of the pole. Wouldn’t it be a shame if that couldn’t be fixed?

Of course, some things are better taken to a professional repair service, and if we feel that is that case we will try to find someone who can help. But in these times, many things are made without providing a way to have them fixed and repair centres are few and far between. This is where we believe we can make a difference by helping people do what we do – fix it ourselves.

Our next Repair Café morning is on Saturday 18 November at the Croft Hall in Hungerford from 10am to 12:30pm. Drop in for a cuppa and cake and a friendly chat about repairing your stuff.

If you want to volunteer, or to know more about what we do, visit us at: repaircafe.org/en/cafe/hungerford-repair-cafe where you will find dates and contact details.

January 2023

Hungerford has played host to another successful Repair Café and on Saturday 28 January the Croft Hall was teeming from 10am until closing time at 12.30pm. The town’s first Repair Café was held in July 2021, and apart for a few breaks during the pandemic, the event has been running since then, usually on the third Saturday of every other month.

“We are not specialist repairers,” one volunteer said, “but just ordinary folk who will have a go at mending something that is broken.” This is the attitude that sits at the heart of the whole repair-café ethos. Fixing stuff is, however, not as easy to do as it once was.

The problem, as many of us will testify, is that so much of what we buy is no longer designed to be mended. I, for example, turned up on Saturday with a four wonky items including a Grundig coffee-maker that had stopped working about six months after I bought it. One of the repairers, Graeme, identified that getting properly inside required accessing a screw so deeply recessed in the casing that it was almost impossible to reach; while the head, or what we could see of it, required something far more specific than anything in Graeme’s toolbox. What we needed had possibly been designed by Grundig for no other purpose other than to tighten this one screw on this one device, so effectively locking out anyone who wasn’t correctly kitted-up.

At this point, a certain amount of despondency kicked in. If the whole thing had been designed, like a Bond villain’s lair, to deter visitors then it was to be expected that even more severe obstacles would lie in wait. There was also the matter of the piece of plastic moulding that had broken off (how?) and which was lying loose inside the first casing we removed. Was this crucial to everything? It was impossible to tell. Eventually, we agreed to call it a day. The system had, on this occasion, defeated us. But we’d tried.

I’m happy to report, however, that many others had happier experiences. Thanks to the resourcefulness and perseverance of the volunteers, a total of 44 items were mended in Hungerford and plans were made to fix another ten later. These ranged from a stuck CD player to a teddy bear that no longer played a tune when squeezed. Overall about 110kg of potential landfill waste was saved. The axe and log-splitter I also brought along are now so sharp that I could probably shave with them: if I had an electric razor that would probably be about to pack up as well and so I might need to.

Built-in obsolesce is a well-known thing. Increasingly, people are seeing through the ruse. Why should I buy a new toaster – which hardly performs a function that is capable of upgrade – and bin the old one just because one tiny part has come adrift? Our increased distaste for condemning items to landfill has contributed to this. So too has the cost-of-living crisis. There’s also an increasing sense of healthy cynicism that asks “why should the manufacturers be able to get away with this?”

In the past, we bought things from places we physically visited and a repair service was often part of the offering. More people had the ability to fix things because they were designed to be fixed. Many things, like clothes, were made or altered locally or by families and so a rip, a shrink or an adjustment was easy to deal with. Nowadays, the immediate reaction is to bin them (or, at best, take them a recycling centre) and get something new. After all, decades of advertising have convinced us that what we really crave more than anything else is the latest model. It is this and this alone that will give us pleasure and satisfaction. Throw the old away – it’s a small price to pay in the quest for perfect happiness.

Just to be sure, or so the cynical argument runs, the makers add some weakness that makes items pack up, ideally just after the expiry of any guarantee. That having happened, you have to take action. How can you live without a toaster? With no one to repair it, the obvious step is to go down to the shop or, increasingly, online to buy a new one, whereupon the whole cycle begins anew.

The Right to Repair movement resulted, in 2021, in a change to the law. However, as this article in Wired points out, this is perhaps in need of repair itself. Several product types, including smartphones and laptops, lie outside the regulations and some of the periods of compliance are up to 10 years. For the time being, it seems as if we’re still on our own in trying to deal with the product failures.

The repair café movement has done a lot to help address this. There is, however, more at stake than just the satisfaction of having something work that previously didn’t. As Mike Gilbert, one of the organisers of Hungerford’s recent event, pointed out, “we want to reduce the amount of stuff that is thrown into landfill: we also want to help people understand how to mend their own things – this way we can hope for a more sustainable future.”

Mike himself helped drive home the second lesson to me. We’d been gifted a small wood-chipper which stopped working about fifteen seconds after we first used it. He established in about the same period of time that something had blocked it: this was removed and the thing now works. Penny and I had instinctively believed that it had just packed up, like things do, and that was that.

As one visitor commented at the event, following a similar revelation, “I’ve been inspired.” So have I.

If you want to volunteer, or to know more about what the Hungerford Repair Café does, please click here. The next one will take place at the Croft Hall in Hungerford on Saturday 18 March from 10am to 12.30pm. Assuming that the various items in our house continue their slow disintegration, you’ll see me there. If not then it might be because, inspired by Mike Gilbert’s example with the wood-chipper, I have learned a bit more about fixing things for myself. I might even have expanded my tool kit which is currently dominated by a can of WD40, a roll of duct tape and a large hammer. Mind you, it’s amazing what you can accomplish even just armed with those…

Brian Quinn

PS. Not many, if any, people have written songs about (or largely about) repair cafés: but I have. Click here to listen to The Good Repairer.