Repair Café Sawbridgeworth

Our next repair cafés are:

• Saturday 26 September 2026

• Saturday 21 November 2026

• Saturday 30 January 2027

There’s no need to book an appointment. Just bring your item along during the afternoon at a time that’s convenient for you.

Repairs are first come, first served, so there may be a wait at busy times. Last entry is 4.15pm.

We allow up to 30 minutes for each repair. This helps us see as many people as possible during each repair café and gives our volunteer repairers enough time to properly assess and work on your item.

For clock and watch repairs, we allow 15 to 20 minutes per item.

Our aim is to repair, rather than restore. We’re often working with limited time, so we can fix faults and carry out practical repairs, but we aren’t able to undertake restoration work or extensive cosmetic refurbishment. This approach means we can help as many people as possible during the afternoon.

If we can’t repair your item, we’ll explain why and, where possible, offer some advice on what you could try next.

Thanks to the skills and experience of our growing team of volunteer repairers, we can tackle all sorts of household items including:

• General and electrical repairs

• Clocks and watches

• Sewing and jewellery repairs

• Computer software advice

• Sharpening

We’ll always assess your item first and let you know whether we think we can help.

Wherever possible, our repairers will talk you through what they’re doing, so you can learn a little more about the problem and perhaps pick up some useful repair skills along the way.

A repair café wouldn’t be complete without refreshments. Our wonderful team of hospitality volunteers make sure there’s plenty of tea, coffee and, of course, cake available for visitors and repairers.

It’s a big part of what makes the repair café such a friendly and welcoming community event.

There is no charge for repairs.

We do, however, welcome donations to help cover our running costs, including hall hire, insurance and equipment and materials for our repairers.

SInce opening our doors in July 2022, we have brought together local volunteers with a shared aim of helping people repair rather than replace their broken belongings.

What started as a small community initiative has grown steadily, with a fantastic team of volunteer repairers now able to tackle an increasingly wide range of items - from lamps and household appliances to toys, clothing, clocks and even the occasional cuckoo clock!

Since our first event, we’ve helped extend the life of hundreds of items, keeping them in use for longer and bringing together people from across the local community.

However it has become about much more than fixing things. It’s a place to share skills, learn something new, enjoy a cup of tea and a slice of cake, and meet other members of the community.

For the latest information, updates and details of each event, follow us on Facebook.

If you have a question about bringing an item to the repair café, you can contact us at repaircafesawbo@gmail.com.

We look forward to welcoming you — and helping you keep your broken things in use for a little longer!