Care and Repair
Repair Cafés – Fix, Learn and Reduce Waste
Repair Cafés are popping up all across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. Part of a global movement, they are on a mission to help cut waste, build repair skills, and bring communities together.
How It Works:
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Skilled volunteers come together to fix broken items for free.
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Enjoy a cup of tea while you learn repair skills.
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If it can be fixed, everyone wins—including the planet!
Read more about Repair Cafés by volunteer repairer, 'Mr. Glue'.
Here are some local Repair Cafés:
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Nottingham Fixers are changing the mindset from "chuck it" to "fix it".
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Transition Buxton meet on the 4th Saturday of the month (except July & December) to Repair & Repurpose, alongside the Saturday morning café in the Methodist Church. From summer 2026 they are also offering an #Endof10 advice service for people with devices running on the Windows10 operating system. Before you buy a new laptop go and have a chat with the LRC team to learn what your options to keep your existing device working for years to come are.
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Transition Crich (Amber Valley) combined their Repair Café with an actual café, offering refreshments and tips on where to go for specialist repairs, or recycling options.
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Transition Belper (Amber Valley) runs a repair café alongside a green meet-up, helping to draw the community together as well as fix things.
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Transition Chesterfield started one of the first repair cafés in 2016, with regular monthly sessions, tips on DIY fixes and do’s and don’ts when visiting a café.
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Beeston Repair Café (pictured) was inspired by the BBC’s Repair Shop and has volunteers who fix furniture, bikes, lamps, clothes, baskets, toasters, computers, printers and more.
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Teversal (Ashfield) is among the latest communities to launch a repair café, setting up its own version of the Repair Shop.
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Newark Borrow & Repair Group The ethos is about sustainability and community engagement. Our mission is to offer regular repair events to mend a growing variety of items, including musical instruments.
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Breaston Repair Café Community driven initiative focused on reducing waste by offering free repair services for household items, electrical goods and more.
Find a Repair Café Near You or start one with help from the UK’s Community Repair Network.
Electronics
For electronics repair and sustainability, check out the Restart Project, which is “making electronics work for people, for the planet, and for longer.” Electronics have a high carbon footprint so a focus on repairing them has a big impact.
E-waste is a growing global crisis, with electrical waste increasing five times faster than it is being recycled. Every 14th October marks International E-Waste Day, urging us to retrieve, recycle, and revive!
Have you got old cables and electronics collecting dust? They contain valuable copper and rare metals that can be recovered. Join the e-waste hunt – find anything with a plug, battery, or cable you no longer need.
Use this cable guide to identify and recycle those mystery wires in your drawers and discover what to do with them.