In support of London Repair Week 2025, free repair cafes are being hosted in Redbridge to breathe new life into broken items, helping local people save money, as well as helping the planet.

As part of the London wide eco-campaign, taking place March 3 – 9, Redbridge Council is supporting two free Repair Cafés in the borough to encourage local people to fix broken items instead of throwing them away:

• Saturday 8 March - Transition Town Ilford is holding a repair café at Redbridge Central library, 2pm-3.45pm. If you can’t make it on the day, they run regular repair cafés at Redbridge Central library on alternate Saturdays from 2pm to 3.45pm. For more details go to: https://transitionilford.org.uk/repair-cafe/

• Saturday 8 March – Redbridge Council’s Neighbourhoods Team, in partnership with the East London Waste Authority, is holding a repair café at Fullwell Cross Library, 12-3pm. This will include electrical, textiles and bike repairs.

The South Woodford Society are also independently running a repair cafe at St Mary’s Memorial Hall, High Road, South Woodford, 10am-1pm, on Saturday 26 April. This will include electrical, mechanical, clothing, glasses, jewellery and bike repairs. For further Repair Café sessions and info go to: https://www.southwoodfordsociety.org/repair-cafe

Repairing items not only helps reduce waste, which is great for the environment and tackling climate change, it can also save you money.

Dilip, is one of the regular repair experts available at the Repair Cafe run by Transition Town Ilford, at Redbridge Central Library.

The Redbridge local said: “Over the years we’ve repaired a huge range of things helping prolong the life of many household items. The repair Cafés are also a great way to pick up repair skills so that fixing items at home might not seem like a daunting task. There are lots of experts on hand to teach you the basics and more, so if you have a broken item come over and see us at one of our Repair Café sessions.”

Many local people are already feeling the financial strain of the cost of living crisis, and with soaring prices many items and household appliances are now more expensive than ever to buy brand new. Repairing an item could prevent the need to pay out for a new, more expensive replacement.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, Cllr Jo Blackman said: “Repair Cafés are a great way to help prolong the life of many everyday items and appliances, leading to less waste and more pounds in your pocket. Hopefully, these events will also encourage people to think twice before throwing things out that can be repaired or passed on. It really is a brilliant free green initiative for local people to take advantage of and I’m grateful to the local groups and volunteers for helping organise them. We can all do our bit to help tackle climate change and create a greener Redbridge, and a visit to the Repair Café is a great place to start!”

Relevant businesses are also being invited to join ReLondon’s 'London Repairs' Directory - aimed at helping people find repair services easily. If your business, or a business you know, offers any kind of repair service including for; clothing, bikes, gadgets, or household appliances please suggest the business to ReLondon via their online form: https://londonrepairs.org/suggest-a-repair-business/ . Upon satisfactory completion of the form, ReLondon will add the business to their directory.

Find out more information, tips, and advice on easy ways to save money and help the environment by first reducing your household waste and then recycling whatever is left:  https://www.redbridge.gov.uk/our-streets/

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