About the Caledon Repair Café

What is a repair café?

A repair café is a space where you can bring broken items and repair them yourself under the guidance of volunteers. Repair Cafés promote the philosophy of fixing and reusing items instead of throwing them away. Depending on the nature of the required repair, skilled volunteers may offer to repair an item for you.

Which items can be repaired?

This depends on the fixer volunteers who sign up for an event. We can most likely help with broken items for which you already have replacement parts or very little material is needed (i.e. mending a torn shirt or gluing a broken vase). The repair café provides some material and tools and is a great opportunity to repair things in a supportive atmosphere. Sometimes all we need is a little bit of encouragement and guidance! However, also bring items that you don’t know how to repair and we will see what we can do. 

At the repair café, we can potentially repair the following items: clothing (must be clean), small appliances, chinaware, wood items, and toys. We also offer sharpening and rehandling of tools on certain occasions (please check specific event flyer). Please bring a spare handle for this type of repair. We might also offer other special services depending on the volunteers available (always check the specific event flyer).

List of items we cannot fix:

• Items involving welding. 
• Refrigeration Equipment – Coolers, Bar Fridges, Air Conditioners, dehumidifiers, etc
• Gas powered equipment – lawn mowers, line trimmers, chain saws, etc.
• Items operating on power greater than 120 volts
• Tools and appliances from other countries operating on different currents
• Very large items (you have to be able to carry an item to our repair café yourself)

We do not guarantee repair for any item, and our volunteers may refuse to repair eligible items on their own discretion.

How does it work?

When visiting the repair café, you will be greeted by some volunteers who will assess your item and help you to find the right fixer volunteer. Please note that in case of wait time, each visitor will be helped with one item. Visitors will join the back of the queue for additional items to be fixed. When you leave, we’ll ask you to answer a couple of questions regarding your repair experience to better understand what has worked for you and where we might improve for our next event.

Do you need volunteers?

Yes, we do! If you have any of the mentioned or other repair skills, please get in touch via repaircafe@ecocaledon.org Our biggest need are fixer volunteers for small appliances. We also look for people who like to help with running the Repair Café and help visitors find their way during the event.

Next repair café: Oct 22 2022 12:30-3:30 pm at 7 Rotarian Way, Bolton

Past repair cafés:

• April 22 2022 at the Palgrave United Community Kitchen
• October 30^th 2021 at the Palgrave United Community Kitchen