The monthly Repair Café sessions are usually held between 09:30 and 13:00 on the 4th Saturday of the month at the Methodist Church on Buxton Market Place.

Our Repair Cafes started in September 2019, and despite a break during the pandemic, the volunteers have fixed over 800 domestic items. The tables below illustrate the range of items seen and the outcomes during just 10 sessions during the first 2 years (we had a break during the pandemic). It is estimated that the 150 items rescued from going to landfill represent a saving of over nearly 8000Kg of CO2 emissions!

Some of the reasons for items needing repair are frayed wires causing bad connections, broken switches, need for a new plug, fuse or battery, requirement for a judicious application of specialist glue – sometimes just a bit of fluff in the wrong place! Some of the reasons for non-repair of electrical items were new parts being more expensive than the cost of the item, not being able to gain access to carry out a repair, and damage caused by leaking batteries. Our Volunteer Repairers would really like to be able to fix every item but designed in obsolescence, and limited availability of spare parts can block their efforts.

Transition Buxton is proud to be a signatory of the Repair Reuse Declaration, updated in October 2023 from the previous Manchester Declaration. We encourage everyone to read and sign the Declaration here, particularly elected officials, to help make the case for repair friendly legislation. It is so sad to see whole appliances going to the tip when they could be given an extended life if only they were designed to make that possible.

We ask all Repair Café users to read and agree to our ‘House Rules’ click here.

If you would like to make a donation to our Repair Café please click the button below.

Page last updated 26/10/2023