We launched the Gryffe Valley Repair Cafe in January 2025 so it’s high time for an update on how our first year went!

We held 11 regular Repair Cafes in 2025 and continue to run monthly on the second Saturday of each month. We’ve had a great uptake by the community and our repairers have fixed a wide range of items including:
• Electrical items
• Textiles and clothes
• Bicycles
• Jewellery
• Toys
• Heirlooms and treasured items
Whilst our visitors wait for their items to be repaired, they can enjoy tea and coffee and our home baking and sandwiches, as well as chatting to and making connections with other community members.

Throughout 2025, we had a total of 160 items presented for repair, with 114 successful repairs. Using the Farnham Repair Cafe Carbon Calculator, this has saved an estimated 3751kg of carbon emissions, which is the equivalent of driving 15,576 miles. In addition, we have saved our visitors money as they have not been required to buy a new item. We have bought some visitors great joy when we have fixed a treasured item.

Aside from our regular Repair Cafe, we held a “Darn and Yarn” event in Linwood Library, where we both shared darning skills and undertook some textile repairs whilst chatting and sharing refreshments. We also brought our Repair Cafe to their Repair Fair in Paisley, where, amongst other things, our repairers delighted everyone by fixing a much-treasured cuckoo clock.

We also moved a couple of times, first from the cosy church hall to the slightly larger smaller Cargill Hall, and then, as we got busier, we took the plunge to the Greater Cargill Hall which is now our regular home and can accommodate more repair stations and cafe tables.

Thanks to donations received and being entirely volunteer run, we only need little additional funding to keep going, and we’ve been lucky for the Co-operative to fill the small funding gap for 2026.

Here’s to many more repairs!