In September 2023, as part of Secondhand September, St Margaret’s House held a Repair Cafe to see what the interest might be for a regular offer in Tower Hamlets. 67 people attended and we fixed bikes, laptops, electrical items and clothing. Following the success, we approached local organisations to create a rolling offer for local people.

St Margaret’s House, the Bromley by Bow Centre and The Royal Foundation of St. Katharine are delighted to be collaborating to host a series of monthly Repair Cafe across Tower Hamlets from January 2024 onwards.

Repair Cafes are all about repairing things together and giving them a new lease of life after a simple repair.

Skilled volunteers will help you repair a range of items including:

  • Clothes mending and alterations - volunteers will guide you through mending skills such as how to sew on a missing or loose button, hemming tricks and tips for alterations, and how to repair small holes.

  • Small electrical appliances - volunteers will look at small household electrical appliances and either help you mend it, or recommend what can be done with it.

  • IT equipment - bring in any items that don't work as well as they used to, or any IT issues you're facing, and volunteers will do their best to help resolve the issue or recommend solutions.

If you would like to volunteer with us we would love your help. Please fill out this form and we will get in touch with you shortly.

Next Repair Cafe:

Where: St Margaret’s House

When: Saturday 25th January, 10am-1pm

Info: www.stmargaretshouse.org.uk/events/repair-cafe

Upcoming Repair Cafes:

Saturday 22nd February, 10am-1pm / Royal Foundation of St Katharine/The Yurt and Community Hub / https://www.rfsk.org.uk/yurt-cafe

Please note there are no Repair Cafes in May, August or December due to public holidays.

For our January, April and September 2025 Repair Cafes, we are working with Breaks & Joins artists to capture the stories of people who bring things to us to be fixed. If you feel comfortable sharing what the items you bring mean to you and why repairing the item is important to you, we will gather these stories, along with photos that will feature in an exhibition at St Margaret’s House as part of Secondhand September. Breaks & Joins explores the repair of our stuff, ourselves, and our communities which works perfectly alongside SMH’s commitment to sustainable practices across our arts and wellbeing programme. We look forward to hearing what you want to share with us and developing this work together.