Repair Café

An award-winning repair café at a Methodist church has welcomed thousands of people through its doors while saving items from landfill. Volunteers at Silsden Repair Café, which opened in June 2023, work to give new life to items brought along by members of the public, saving people money and reducing landfill waste.

The repair café helps the Silsden Methodist Church, based in the Airedale Circuit in the Yorkshire West District, boost its eco credentials and work towards a net zero future.

A joint venture between the Silsden Methodist Church and Silsden Climate Action, the café  won BBC Radio Leeds’ Make a Difference Award 2024, in the Green category.

Run monthly, the café has contributed to the church’s A Rocha Gold Eco Church Award, gained in September 2024.

Since launching, it is estimated that more than 3,000 people have come along, and 2,320 items have been brought in for repair of which around 89 per cent have been successfully repaired and saved from landfill.

Eileen Jowitt, Silsden Methodist Church Eco Lead and one of the coordinators of Silsden Repair Café, said: “Our aim for the Repair Café is simple: keep things out of landfill whilst helping local people save money. Three years on, thanks to our 37 amazing volunteers, partners and visitors, the impact has been far bigger than we ever imagined, and it has become a vibrant hub of activity and collaboration.

“When we first opened our doors on 23 June 2023, 29 people brought along items for repair. Since then, numbers have steadily grown, with our busiest session seeing 99 items brought in during the 2.5 hours we’re open.

“We have volunteer electricians, mechanics, sewists, sewing machine repairers, bike repairers, jewellery repairers and furniture restorers. We also have ‘miscellaneous’ volunteers with a variety of skills who will have a go at repairing most things. We can also sharpen everyday items, including kitchen knives, secateurs and garden shears. Our ‘general’ volunteers help to keep the event running smoothly.”

The church is responsible for the refreshment café, which is open to all the local community, and donates the use of the building. Church members also volunteer in various roles.

Climate Action Silsden runs the repair side, a pop-up refill shop and an energy helpdesk. Working in partnership with other organisations, collections are organised and unwanted items repurposed each month, including bikes, laptops, tablets and smart phones; garden and woodworking tools; fabric, wool, unwanted medication and small medical equipment; children’s toys, books and much more.

The pop-up refill shop sells household goods such as laundry liquid, cleaning detergents, shampoos and shower gel, refilling customers’ own bottles. All products are vegan, cruelty free and paraben free, and contain no synthetic dyes or perfumes. More than 4,000 bottles have been saved from landfill.

The energy helpdesk aims to inform and support Silsden residents in reducing their carbon emissions from their homes, simultaneously reducing their energy costs. They offer advice on grants and how to insulate homes, and have an energy camera which they take out to assess people’s homes and advise on actions that could be taken to save energy.

There is also a popular second-hand book and jigsaw stall for visitors to browse and purchase books.

The repair café not only repairs physical items but also supports the volunteers’ mental wellbeing and helps to prevent loneliness.

In a recent volunteer survey, 50 per cent of the volunteers said the repair café improved their mental wellbeing, 83 per cent said it gave them a sense of purpose and that they had made friends.