CAG Somerset demonstrates the value of repair cafés at Fixfest 2025

CAG Somerset and Resource Futures recently joined more than 220 repairers, organisers, activists, researchers, businesses, and policy experts in London for Fixfest – a weekend that aimed to share skills knowledge, experience and stories from those advocating for, and implementing, repair activities across the world.

The two-day event explored a number of vital issues facing the repair community – ranging from the UK’s Right to Repair legislation and the Microsoft’s decision to end support for Windows 10 to how digital tools allow for better measurement of the impact and wider social value of repair.

Speaking on the second day of Fixfest 2025, the CAG Somerset team led a workshop showcasing the brilliant work of its members’ repair café initiatives, highlighting how they serve not only as a valuable community resource for fixing and mending broken items, but as communal spaces for people to expand their skills, build community resilience and make meaningful intergenerational connections.

The workshop invited attendees to reflect on how repair cafés provide a sense of belonging and opportunities for connection, as well as supporting local skills and knowledge and providing training and learning opportunities for repairers and visitors to repair cafés

The session concluded with the observation that repair cafés can act as catalysts for wider engagement, inspiring sustainable living and community-led initiatives.

Somerset has become a thriving outpost of the repair movement in recent years, with more than 20 community-run repair groups (many of which are members of the CAG Somerset network).

As well as sharing the insight and takeaways from our on-the-ground community work in the South West, our team were able to hear first-hand about the many other great initiatives happening across the globe, and exchange insight and best practice with delegates hailing from North America, Europe, Australia and Africa.

“Repair cafés are far more than places to fix broken toasters or sew torn jackets; they are powerful tools for strengthening community bonds, encouraging meaningful interaction, and creating local resilience. In an age of environmental urgency and social fragmentation, these volunteer-run spaces offer hope and hands-on solutions.”

Jinny Uppington, CAG Somerset Lead at Resource Futures