Repair Cafes In Chiddingfold & Godalming

Repair cafes started in Amsterdam in 2010 and there are now around 2,500 worldwide, mostly in Europe. The cafes exist to bring people with broken household items together with people who volunteer to help them fix the items, all at no cost and in a friendly environment. 

The idea for local repair cafes emerged at the start of 2022 after visits to similar cafes in Haslemere and Farnham, from whom we received much enthusiastic support.  From this, members of the Rotary Clubs in Godalming have now established Rotary-led repair cafes in both Godalming and Chiddingfold which were both formally opened by the Town Mayor, councillor Shirley Faraday. 

These cafes are supported by around 40 volunteers with a wide range of skills and knowledge and a large proportion of the people who have brought in broken domestic items left with their items in full working order again, saving the owners money and helping avoid the Greenhouse Gas emissions associated with buying and manufacturing a new product.

Everything is done voluntarily, including the provision of tea, coffee and cake, although the cafe does accept donations to help cover costs.

As far as we know, Godalming and Chiddingfold are the first Rotary led cafes and we are keen that other Rotary clubs should consider starting a cafe in their town, if one does not exist already. It is a great way to show that Rotary cares about the community and the environment, and cares about helping people to keep their household items working. This saves the owners the expense of a new purchase and saves the planet the costs of energy, materials and recycling or landfill.