Volunteers

In addition to the Chief Repairer and Administrator the volunteers are obviously vital to having a successful Repair Café. We have a further 24 members on the WhatsApp group – some just occasionally drop in, most are regulars. We normally have about 15 volunteers each event:

2 – 3x meet and greet

2x to run the café (other volunteers make homemade cakes)

2- 3x on the sewing bench

2-3x on the electrics bench

2-3x on wooden & miscellaneous

1-2x on tool and knife sharpening

Equipment      

After much discussion we agreed that it was best, and follows with ethos of the Repair Café, not to buy more tools but we each bring our own. It was felt that they are better looked after and also things don’t tend to go missing.

Any extras like fuses, glue etc we buy out of the donations but more specific items we ask the owners of the items to buy. We will advise them what is required but they are expected to pay for them and bring them to the next Repair Café.

Education and Training

Part of the ethos of the Repair Café is to teach and train people on how to repair and mend, whilst at the same time showing how we can repair rather than chuck away and buy new. It’s not always easy to teach people as our Repair Cafes tend to be busy.

We do however, have a 17-year-old lad who comes every month to learn, he is under the wing of our chief repairer and is rapidly becoming a valued part of the repair tea. (Barny is DBS checked and a relative of his is always on hand throughout).

One spin off has been Stitch & Enrich, which takes place on the first Thursday of the month, in the Parish Church café. This is where people can come and learn to darn, sew or just space to be creative. It runs from 9am – 12noon, which is the same as the café.

Above & Beyond

Most of our repairers really enjoy tinkering and mending together. There is usually a great atmosphere, and some people just come for the company, chat and café.

Not all repairs can be done in the 2.5 hours allotted or have the right equipment with them – some of our repairers will take these items home and mend them at home. We never expect this.

Other items are too big for the Repair Café and clients are advised of this.

Location & timings

The Harting Repair Café is promoted throughout the Parish, but anyone can come and benefit from the expertise on hand. It takes place on the 3rd Saturday of the month in the Harting Club. This used to be a working men’s club and is very affordable to hire.

We run 10 Repair Cafes a year – we don’t hold one in August or December (and this year we have had to change the date of the April Repair Café as Easter falls on the 3rd Saturday). The April Repair Café is on 26th April 2025.

Doors open at 10am and close at 12.30pm. We say we don’t accept repairs after 12noon but it depends how busy we are, whether the appropriate repairer is free and how long the repair is likely to take.  

Finances and Funding

We were very lucky to get a donation from our local Parish Magazine of £1,000 to launch the Repair Café. This covered the set up costs of insurance, PAT testing kit and training, marketing (posters), hall hire fees for the first 6 months etc. We have since paid the full amount back.

We do not charge for repairs, but we do ask for a donation. Likewise, teas and coffees are on a voluntary donation basis. Anyone making cakes and biscuits puts in expenses to ensure that they are not out of pocket.

We make it clear that the money goes back into the Repair Café to ensure we can keep it going and any surplus goes back into Harting Climate Action Network, which the Repair Café comes under, to support their projects.

We set up an account for club or society via NatWest and we have a float for cash or a SumUp machine for all donations.

Boring but Important Stuff

Insurance – we have insurance and can share the details with you. It costs about £250 per year

PAT testing – not essential but it is good practice that all electrical items are PAT tested after they have been repaired. Some Repair Cafes cut off plugs if they think items are dangerous – we just advice people of this and log the fact that we deem the item as dangerous.

Risk Assessment – to get insurance you will need a Risk Assessment. Again, we can share ours should you decide to set up a Repair Café.

Volunteer Health & Safety log – every year all volunteers need to go through the Risk Assessment and agree to our terms and conditions of work (ie that we will work as safely as we can and if we notice anything that we think is risky we will raise it or sort it out). They each have to sign a log that they adhere to this.

First Aid and First Aider – again it is not essential but good practice to have a first aider as part of your team. There is also a first kit is always on site.

Recording Repairs

Everyone who brings items to be repaired has to fill in a registration form, which includes that they agree to adhere to our Terms & Conditions (we can give you a copy of this). A form is needed for each repair.

These are then logged, numbered and placed on a triage table. Repairers will collect suitable items for their skills and attempt the repair. They will hand the form back, completed to the volunteers on the registration desk where the work is recorded.

Following the event all repaired items are logged, as are those that are unrepairable or where advice is given. This is done on a simple Excel spreadsheet – again we can share this with you. It’s really worth recording your repairs and it gives us all a huge sense of achievement seeing how much we have saved from landfill. 

The “Management” Group

Harting Repair Café is part of Harting Climate Action Network. We are not a registered charity, just a community group. We do have a charter and hold an annual meeting where all the volunteers are invited to share our successes and discuss ideas on how we can improve.  

There is a “Management Group” which is very informal and includes Barny (Chief Repairer and Treasurer), Sarah Green (administrator) and three others – two of which are repairers. We meet a couple of times a year, when needed, to discuss anything outstanding, review the Risk Assessment annually and prepare for the annual meeting.

We believe one of the reasons we are so successful is that we are well organised but do not believe in onerous committees and meetings. 

If you are interested in finding out more about Harting Repair Café or would like to see any of our paperwork please contact Sarah Green via sarahja.green@gmail.com