Repair Cafe Wales opens & supports repair cafés in Wales and beyond
We are a registered charity dedicated to creating a culture of repair and reuse, to encourage communities that want to work towards a more Circular Economy. Directly addressing the ever-growing emergency of unsustainable growth in landfill and waste.
Our Vision
‘A society empowered to work together to reduce waste, share skills, and strengthen our communities’
History of Repair Cafe Wales
Frustrated with the unsustainable growth of landfill and waste, Repair Cafe Wales was founded by Joe O’Mahoney and Cerys Jones in April 2017 to start and support repair cafés in Wales.
The international repair café movement was initiated by Martine Postma. Since 2007, she has been striving for sustainability at a local level in many ways. Martine organised the very first repair café in Amsterdam in 2009. It was a great success.
This prompted Martine to start the Repair Café Foundation. Since 2011, this non-profit organisation has provided professional support to local groups in the Netherlands and other countries wishing to start their own repair café. There are now over 1,500 repair cafés worldwide.
How a Repair Café Works
Repair cafe events are free pop ups that reduce waste, teach skills and build community resilience. Run by volunteers who will try to fix anything that is brought to them (though with specialist items, do contact your local repair café.
Started by committed members of the public with our support, and run by the local community. We can provide advice and support on everything from organisation, processes, insurance, fundraising, volunteer recruitment and social media.
At each repair cafe event, somewhere between 20 and 50 members of the public bring their damaged or broken household items for repair/advice. Typical items include electrical goods, technology, ornaments, clothes, bicycles for basic maintenance & guidance, jewellery and more! The repair café volunteers then attempt to repair the items. The visitors are encouraged to join in and learn how their item is being fixed so that they can attempt similar repair in the future.
We are a registered charity with a Board of Trustees.
How we’re funded
We are also grateful to be supported by a number of other funders including Welsh Government’s Landfill Disposal Tax Community Scheme, administered by Wales Council for Voluntary Action; People’s Postcode Lottery; Community Foundation Wales, Wales Church Fund; Welsh Council for Voluntary Action Volunteering grant.
Mission and impact
Committed to facilitating the opening of repair cafés in every town, village, city and suburb in Wales, we are focusing our energies on nurturing a cleaner, more sustainable world whilst our communities are inclusive and safe environments for people of all ages and backgrounds to share knowledge, skills, and to generally connect.
Our communities repair toasters, rebuild coffee tables and repurpose jeans or dresses, we restore confidence, we reskill those who want to learn, and we remind ourselves of the importance of communication, cooperation and community spirit.
We are working for our communities to influence standards for goods and government policy, collecting data from our community hubs, and helping to inform policy decisions that promote a greener, more sustainable world.
Our Values
Waste Reduction
Repair cafes help household items be used for longer rather than throwing them away. This reduces the volume of raw materials and energy needed to make new products. It cuts CO2 emissions by reusing instead of manufacturing new products.
Sharing Skills
By promoting a repairing culture and inviting each one of our visitors to sit with a volunteer repairer, repair cafes show appreciation for the people who have practical knowledge and ensure these valuable skills are getting passed on.
Community Connection
Repair cafes promote social cohesion in the community by connecting local residents from very different backgrounds and with different motives with each other through an inspiring and low-key event.
Repair Cafe Wales Core Team
The core working team for Repair Cafe Wales.
Phoebe
Director
Phoebe Brown
Hilary
Operations Manager
Hilary
As Operations Manager, Hilary is responsible for the day to day running of the network of well over 100 Repair Cafes, maintaining and improving our systems and information, answering all of your organiser queries, and lots of other bits and pieces that make up running the network. She loves a challenge!
Hilary Grew up learning how to do practical things, and she is always trying to save something before buying new. Supporting repair cafes brings Hilary’s experience in the third sector and genuine desire to see communities “do it for themselves” in line with helping people save money and saving perfectly good items from landfill to live another day.
Hilary love’s a bit of upcycling, too especially repurposing fabric, sometimes with interesting results. (especially when it goes wrong).
Léonie
Project Coordinator
Léonie
Léonie is based in Shropshire and has a background in teaching, training, community engagement, volunteer management, fundraising and project management. She is currently studying an MSc in Behaviour Change part-time, with an emphasis on pro-environmental behaviours.
Léonie joined Repair Cafe Wales in July 2022, delivering her first project funded by WCVA, establishing 13 new repair cafes, each located within 5 miles of landfill sites. Léonie’s current project, also funded by WCVA, involves establishing new repair cafes in a combination of settings, including colleges, libraries and local communities.
Léonie is an amateur bicycle tinkler and a passionate advocate of the circular economy; she loves all of the spin-off benefits of repair cafes, particularly the way in which they bring people together in a warm, inclusive environment and boost the wellbeing of everyone involved.
Vici
Project Coordinator
Vici
She also works with Benthyg Cymru supporting organisations to develop Libraries of Things 2 days a week.
Vici has successfully delivered a broad range of projects and events and has a background in television production including numerous documentaries, children, and factual programmes working with most terrestrial and international broadcasters.
She has enjoyed volunteering and with charities and non-profits for over 20 years. She is passionate about helping young people, homelessness and currently volunteers at a community café and hub. Her hobbies include baking and teaching her daughter to bake. Her confidence has improved about making repairs since working for Repair Café Wales and most recently she has developed a knack for making plumbing repairs at home.
Megan
Communications Officer
Megan
With a keen eye for storytelling and a passion for community engagement, Megan manages our social media channels, crafts compelling newsletters, and creates engaging content including a few TikTok’s that highlights the incredible work happening at our repair cafes.
Megan’s dedication helps build a vibrant and supportive community around Repair Cafe Wales, making it easier for everyone to join us in our mission to reduce waste, preserve skills, and create a more sustainable future.
Charlotte
Bookkeeper
Charlotte
Repair Cafe Wales Board
We have a very far ranging board, each who bring their own expertise and experience to help grow Repair Cafe Wales.
Joe O’Mahoney
Co-Founder & Director
Joe O’Mahoney
Joe is a founder and Chair of Repair Cafe Wales. For the most part, this involves managing the strategy of RCW, talking at external events, and applying for funding.
In his day job, Joe is a Professor of Management at Cardiff University. He has received four prizes for teaching excellence, published three books with Oxford University Press, and led several research projects. Joe founded two successful private companies, StayMobile Technology and Consulting Mastered and prior to joining academia, Joe was Head of Digital Products at Three, and a senior management consultant with Xansa. Joe has featured as an industry expert on BBC Radio Wales, Radio 2 and Radio 4, and appeared on BBC 2’s Dragon’s Den.
More information can be found about Joe at www.joeomahoney.com
Tom Sinclair
Chair
Tom Sinclair
Tom joined Repair Cafe Wales in May 2020 to bring financial stewardship and share expertise gained in a 15-year career in some of Europe’s largest communications companies.
Tom is a chartered accountant and began his career at Baker Tilly. Currently Tom is a Finance Director at O2, having previously operated in similar roles at Sky in the UK, Germany and Austria.
An average-at-best repairer, Tom is passionate about waste reduction and the values upon which repair cafés are built. He’s looking forward to adding real value to the Repair Cafe Wales team through his significant senior executive experience.
John McCrory
Director
John McCrory
John is the External Events Coordinator and Spokesperson for Repair Cafe Wales. This involves organising one-off events, speaking at external events and managing media requests. Over the past year John has worked with partners such as Green City, Cardiff Science Festival, British Heart Foundation, Techniquest, and Friends of the Earth Cymru on collaborative events.
In his day job, John is a Research Associate at Cardiff University School of Engineering. Having completed a PhD, he now conducts research into the use of Structural Health Monitoring as an enabling technology for a sustainable future. He is also a STEM Ambassador and speaks at events, delivers workshops and co-organises events such as Soapbox Science, which aims to combat the underrepresentation of women in STEM. Not forgetting the importance of art, John is also a musician, and you can often find him at one of the local open mic nights in Cardiff.
Steve Iwanski
Director
Steve Iwanski
Steve joined Repair Cafe Wales in September 2020 as Volunteer Finance Ambassador to create financial reporting for the organisation, before joining the Board of Directors in November 2022 to provide additional strategic financial guidance.
A qualified accountant for 12 years, Steve is currently working within the Recycling Division at DS Smith, previously gaining varied experience from working within several different industries in senior accounting roles.
Steve has a keen interest in exploring and deploying innovative sustainability solutions to enhance the circular economy, and so is excited to be a part of Repair Café Wales through its current and future growth.
Ceri Davies
Director
Ceri Davies
Ceri has a passion for the environment at a local, national, and global level and is interested in all aspects of what we can do to limit our impact on the planet and make the way we live more sustainable.
He has applied these values to work with central government delivering projects such as the Single Use Carrier Bag Charge and the Coastal Communities Fund. His work in the third sector includes the Canal and River Trust and in the social enterprise sector with Indycube.
Ceri has extensive charity board experience – Keep Wales Tidy, the Sherman Theatre and as a Director with Cardiff Community Energy.
Partners
We work closely with the organisations below in a number of ways including co-hosting events, fixing / donating / borrowing items, mentoring, managing time credit schemes, analysing repair data, upskilling individuals, hosting repair cafés, providing volunteering opportunities and working together to promote the ‘make do and mend’ culture.
