We run two types of monthly event, all about skilled volunteers helping keep things working longer and saving us throwing things in the bin:
- repair cafés are our biggest community events all about fixing and maintaining a wide variety of things, such as electrical and mechanical repairs, bikes, clothes and, if volunteers are available, we can offer specialist repairs like tool sharpening, leather and jewellery. There’s tea and cake and our repairers are always pleased to show you what they’re doing, so you can learn how to fix things yourself.
- tech rescue is a new, software and IT-focused session in partnership with Getting Oxfordshire Online. Our techie volunteers aim to help you keep your IT running smoothly, advise on the best use for it or help you to donate it to people in need when you no longer need it.
Join us at our next repair event
Repair Cafés
Jericho
NEW DATE – Sunday 31 May, 2-5pm
Makespace, Aristotle Lane, OX2 6TP
If there are no slots available for your repair type, check back in the week before the café for last-minute cancellations or additional slots.
You’re also welcome to drop in if you don’t mind a wait. We recommend arriving early! If doing this, please email us at repaircafe@shareoxford.org with a few details of what you’ll be bringing to fix and we’ll make sure we are prepared.
Bookings open within a week after the last repair café. You can follow us on EventBrite to receive an email when we release tickets.
We run repair cafés at Makespace on the 3rd Sunday of each month (occasionally shifting to avoid special weekends), and we take a break in August and December.
NEW: Blackbird Leys with Oxford Hub
Thursday 11 June, 11am-2pm
Oxford Hub, Windale Ave, OX4 6JD
In partnership with Oxford Hub, we’re delighted to offer a new repair café – we’ll be running this as a drop-in, with sewing & darning, electrical/mechanical and bike repairs and IT support.
We’re building funds to run our Blackbird Leys repair cafés on the first Thursday of every month.
Tech Rescue
Jericho
Monday 8 June 11am-3:30pm
Makespace, Aristotle Lane, OX2 6TP
If you’re just dropping off donations, there’s no need to book, do come along any time we’re open.
If you have any questions before making a booking, please email repaircafe@shareoxford.org. If we’re sold out, do get in touch and we’ll see if we can squeeze you in!
We run Tech Rescue at Makespace on the 2nd Monday of every month.
NEW: Cowley with Oxford Community Action
Wednesday 3 June 10:00-12:00
John Bunyan Baptist Church Hall, Crowell Road, OX4 3LN
We’re running this new service as a drop-in, so no need to book or if you want to let us know any questions beforehand, do email repaircafe@shareoxford.org.
We’re building funds to run Tech Rescue with OCA on the first Wednesday every month.
Stay up to date
Sign up to our newsletter, follow us on social media or subscribe to our Eventbrite channel for the latest on our repair events
4,124 kg of things fixed so far…
Thank you to all our amazing volunteers, and everyone who has come along with your things!
Got things which need some TLC, are perhaps a bit broken and you haven’t had the time or skills to fix them yourself? Don’t bin them, bring them to our monthly repair café, and our volunteers will have go at fixing them.
We have a mix of expert and beginner repairers all willing to get stuck in and share their skills with us to help the community save money and reduce our resource consumption footprint.
Typical repairs include sewing/darning, bikes, electrical/electronic, mechanical and sharpening. We can also sometimes offer IT, jewellery, leather and welding repairs. Check who is available and what we can offer when signing up for your event.
Please use the online booking form to book your slot, which also gives us a chance to see what things people are bringing for repair, prepare our volunteers and possibly ask you questions up front to help us have maximum chance of success.
More questions? See our full FAQ here.
Volunteer with us
Whether you’re a professional repairer, an enthusiast, or you want to help out hosting or organising the cafés, we’d love to hear from you. For repairers, we’ll run through your skills with you and introduce you to our safety procedures before unleashing you on any repairs!
Whether you’re a professional repairer, a repair enthusiast, or you want to get involved in any other way, we’d love to hear from you. For repairers, we’ll run through your skills with you and introduce you to our safety procedures before unleashing you on any repairs!
If you’ve got any questions before you get started, do get in touch on repaircafe@shareoxford.org, or if you’re ready to go, you can register here:
More repairing resources
Repair Café Oxfordshire
This website, run by Community Action Groups Oxfordshire, brings together all the repair cafés in Oxfordshire.
Check out their listing of all the repair cafés to find an ideal one near you.
They also try and keep a live listing of who’s on when on the CAG Oxfordshire events page.
Oxfordshire Repair Hubs
These two organisations offer ongoing repairing services and waste handling for when you can’t wait for the next repair cafe!
Learn to fix your stuff
We’re aware of these places offering to help you learn how to fix things
Broken Spoke: this co-op in central Oxford offers regular “bike shop” repairs on Tuesdays and Fridays, and on Thursday and Saturday afternoons it switches to a DIY workshop where you can drop in, use a stand and volunteers will help you learn how to fix your bike.
Windrush Bike Project in Witney offer a similar setup in that town
Oxford Weaving Studio and Oxford Wood Recycling (Abingdon) both offer courses to learn their particular skillsets.
Bicester Green can help with workshop skills in Bicester.
If you know what you’re doing and just need space and the right tools, check out EOF Hackspace.