Your toaster has died, or your winter coat has a tear you cannot fix alone. Before you order a replacement or drag the item to the kerb, London runs dozens of repair cafes where volunteer fixers try to mend it for free. Groups meet in church halls, libraries and community centres from Lambeth to Thamesmead, usually once a month, and most ask only for a donation. This guide lists real venues, times and what each one will and will not touch.
What happens at a repair cafe
Walk into Repair Café Lambeth on the first Saturday of the month and you find volunteers at folding tables, not a shop counter. The session runs on the first Saturday of the month at We Are 336, 336 Brixton Road, London, SW9 7AA. No need to book, you will be seen depending on the availability of volunteers, and because you may need to wait for a repairer, you are advised to come not later than 11:30.
The fixers do not promise a result. Repairs are not guaranteed to succeed, but the team helps fix over half of devices at its events, and even an unsuccessful repair teaches you about your device and why it failed. Sometimes the fix needs a part nobody has in stock. The volunteers rarely carry spare parts, but they can help you source them, so people often visit twice: once to diagnose the fault, then again once they have the part to fit it.
Money works differently here too. Advice and help from Repair Café Lambeth is free to all, and a voluntary donation from visitors is appreciated to support future events. Twickenham Repair Café runs on the same principle. The café does not charge for repairs, but asks for a donation based on what you think the time and expertise is worth.
Where to find a repair cafe near you
London's repair cafes cluster by borough, each with its own day, venue and specialism.
- Lambeth: Repair Café Lambeth meets the first Saturday of the month, 10am to 1pm, at We Are 336, 336 Brixton Road, SW9 7AA.
- Putney: Repair Cafe Putney meets the second Saturday of the month, 10am to noon, at St Mary's Church on Putney High Street, and repairs clothing, electrical appliances, computer equipment, bric-a-brac, kitchen knives, scissors, secateurs and, on request, bicycles and clocks.
- Twickenham: Sessions run at St Margaret's Church Hall, TW1 1RL, typically 10.30am to 1pm, with the last job accepted at 12.30pm or earlier if busy. There is no need to book, just drop in, though only one item per person is accepted for repair.
- Thamesmead: The cafe has a new venue from October 2026 at Sporting Club Thamesmead, Bayliss Avenue, SE28 8NJ, running the last Saturday of the month (except December), 1pm to 4pm. It is organised in partnership with Bexley Council, Cory and Peabody, Greenwich Council, and the repair and reuse social enterprise The Restart Project.
- Sutton: Sessions take place at Yourspace in Seears Park, where you can bring a faulty vacuum cleaner or torn trousers and go home with your item good for another few years' use.
- Walthamstow: Forest Fixers runs sessions at the Hornbeam Environment Centre on Hoe Street, where volunteers help fix your toaster, blender, radio and other small electrical appliances.
- East London: The East London Waste Authority works with Barking & Dagenham, Havering, Newham and Redbridge councils to run repair sessions at venues including Custom House Library and Plaistow Library.
For a one-off big event, mark your diary for the Barbican. On Saturday 17 October 2026, the Barbican Centre, City of London and The Restart Project are running a Festival of Fixing in the ground floor foyer, with a repair café, photography exhibition, workshops and a clothes swap, and the repair café itself runs 11am to 3pm.
What people get wrong about repair cafes
The biggest misunderstanding is treating a repair cafe like a guaranteed repair shop. It is a volunteer session with mixed outcomes, not a warranty service. A second mistake is assuming any broken item qualifies.
Thamesmead Repair Cafe cannot repair mobile phones, tablets or laptop screens without replacement parts, and e-bikes, e-scooters, microwaves, power tools and large appliances that cannot be carried by hand are also unsuitable. Other cafes draw similar lines around weight and battery size. Check the specific venue's list before you carry anything heavy across town.
People also forget to prepare the item itself. Putney's volunteers ask you to back up your data before you arrive, since they cannot take responsibility for photos or files on a device you bring in. At the Hornbeam Centre, anyone bringing a coffee maker is asked to descale it three times first, because limescale is the usual cause of problems and volunteers cannot descale machines on site.
Finally, "free" does not always mean free. Many councils describe repairs as done free of charge whilst you wait, but individual groups such as Lambeth and Twickenham still ask for a voluntary donation to keep running. Bring a little cash just in case.
What this means in practice
Check your item against the list before you leave home. A vacuum cleaner or torn jumper suits almost any cafe; an e-bike or microwave suits almost none of them. Back up any phone, laptop or tablet first, since volunteers cannot be responsible for data loss.
Arrive close to opening time rather than near the end. Lambeth advises getting there by 11:30 because repairers work on a first-come basis. Twickenham stops taking new jobs at 12.30pm even though the session runs until 1pm. Bring a small donation, even where the session is listed as free, since that money keeps the volunteers' tools and the venue hire going.
If the fix needs a part, be ready to come back. Volunteers can help you source spare parts, but a second visit to fit them is common. That second trip costs you almost nothing beyond the bus fare, and it beats buying new.
Learn more about repair cafes
