About Repair Café
The Repair Café concept was developed in 2009 in the Netherlands by Martine Postma and Peter van Vliet. They hit on the idea of setting up low-key meeting places where neighbors could repair their broken items themselves supported by coaches and in a relaxed atmosphere.
Martine Postma pioneered repair cafes in the Netherlands, and sessions modelled on her concept have sprung up across Europe (Credit: Getty Images)
The first Repair Café was held in Amsterdam. Dozens of neighbors and interested people showed up that Sunday, where a host of volunteer coaches were at the ready with tools and materials. The afternoon was a great success; the initiative had obviously tapped into a clear need.
Since January 2011, the Repair Café Foundation has provided support to local groups in the Netherlands and other countries wishing to start their own Repair Café.
The Repair Café Foundation has the following goals:
to bring back repairing into local society in a modern way;
to maintain repair expertise and to spread this knowledge;
to promote social cohesion in the local community by connecting neighbors from very different backgrounds through an inspiring and low-key event.
Repair Café NC
Tom Karches and Don Fick organized Repair Café NC in Cary in 2017 as a local chapter of the global repair movement. The goals of Repair Café NC are to:
plan and operate successful Repair Café events throughout the region
develop the local Repair Café chapter as a sustainable, community-focused organization
freely share a set of best practices and lessons learned for organizing Repair Café groups throughout the state and elsewhere
have fun, share skills, and fix stuff
Although Repair Café NC is recognized by the international Repair Café Foundation, it does not receive any funding or governance from the Repair Café Foundation. Repair Café NC is committed to following the basic principles of Repair Café while being independently managed by local volunteers.
Contact Information
Don Fick
don@donfick.com
919-439-2294