4th UK Repair Café Conference

16^th June 2025
University for the Creative Arts  
Farnham
Surrey 

Repair Cafés are gaining more visibility in the media and playing an increasingly important role locally, reinforcing the importance of social and community alongside reducing environmental impacts. Repair Café numbers in the UK and around the globe are increasing: over 3600 Repair Cafes are now highlighted on the Repair Cafe International Foundation (RCIF) website. The ‘Right to Repair’ is now part of the policy agenda in Europe but legislative change will take time to be implemented.
The 4th UK Repair Café conference will bring together Repair Cafes from throughout UK to share practical experience and knowledge and transfer best practice and skills. It is a great opportunity to share knowledge and experience, and network with other Repair Cafes.

Target audience
The conference is focused on practical issues being faced by Repair Cafes and is targeted at managers, repairers and other volunteers; and will be suitable for those that are in start-up or more experienced Repair Cafes.

Event objectives
The conference will focus on practical issues associated with running Repair Cafes. In addition, the event will provide excellent networking opportunities for existing Repair Cafes or those that are considering setting up a Repair Cafe.

Agenda

The conference is chaired by:

Professor Martin Charter, Director and Chair, Board of Trustees, Farnham Repair Café, The Centre for Sustainable Design (®), University for the Creative Arts (UCA)

10.00 Registration

10.30 Welcome & Introductions

Professor Martin Charter, Director, The Centre for Sustainable Design ®, UCA and Chair, Board of Trustees, Farnham Repair Café

10.55 Repair Cafes in Taiwan 

Professor Hua-Mei Chiu, Founder, Southern Taiwan Repair, Café Alliance and Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan 

11.25 What is a repair cafe and what are the characteristics

Group discussion 

11.55 Repair Cafés: Networks and Collaboration 

Presentation

Peter Counter, PhD researcher, UCA

Panel discussion

• Ruth Lambert, CEO, Share and Repair
• Clare Seek, CEO & Founder, Share (Portsmouth)
• Alice Williams, Communications Coordinator, Community Action Groups (CAGS), Oxfordshire
• Helen Vines, Project Lead, Community Action Groups (CAGS) Devon

1.00 Lunch and networking

2.00 Roundtable discussions #1

• Electricals
• Clothing
• Mechanical
• Tools
• Glues

3.00 Roundtable discussion #2

• Engaging young people
• Recruitment of volunteers
• Marketing and communications
• Data and information
• Insurance and legal

4.00 Reporting back 

4.15 Complete questionnaires

4.30 Close

Registration

The event is free of charge, but you need to register via frc@uca.ac.uk by sending your name, position and repair cafe. On receipt, you will be sent instructions to join the conference. More information is also attached here on travelling to the event and Farnham

Further information

For more information contact:
Ros Carruthers
The Centre for Sustainable Design ®
Business School for the Creative Industries
UCA
+44 (0) 1252 892772

Funding

Funding received from Research England Strategic Priorities Fund. Research England is part of UK Research and Innovation, a public body funded by the UK government. For more information visit www.ukri.org or re.ukri.org