Stowmarket Repair Cafe
As part of our efforts to re-use, recycle and reduce waste, we set up a Repair Café at Red Gables which operates monthly, on the second Sunday from 2pm-4pm alongside the recycling stall.
Have your children’s school trousers got a hole in the knee?
Do you need something glued back together?
Want help finishing that knitting project?
Need a chair leg fixed?
In need of some advice on how to fix something?
… don’t bin it, Repair it!
The Stowmarket Repair Café began in October 2022 thanks to project lead, Sue Reynard who approached Red Gables Manager, Colin, with the idea and who has been running the café monthly to make sure everything runs smoothly.
We were able to review some important statistics from the first 3 years of operation, (from October 2022 to September 2025) to measure the success of the group. We found that we welcomed 300+ visitors and were brought 731 items. We have successfully repaired an impressive 537 of these items, whilst offering advice for an additional 88. This means our team has been able to fix an incredible 73% of the items brought to us.
Repair Cafes are to encourage people to repair items rather than throw them away, therefore reducing waste and saving you money! We have a team of 26 local experienced repairers who will show you what they are doing while they repair your item during the session, if they can.
Please make sure that anything you bring is clean and not damaged beyond repair and if you can, please bring with you any zips, buttons or other items that might be needed to make the repair – although we will still try to help if you haven’t got what is needed.
We have volunteers that are skilled in repairing clothing, jewellery, general fixing and gluing, small electricals, toys etc. Please check our Facebook page or contact us directly to check what repairs we are able to do in each session.
We are grateful to also be joined by Dan from Session Cycles, who offers free minor bicycle repairs and checks. To book your bicycle in with Dan and check his availability, please email dan@sessioncycles.co.uk
We are always accepting new Volunteers who can assist with admin, repairs and serving refreshments in the kitchen for our visitors whilst they wait.
See you soon at the Stowmarket Repair Café!
