How repair cafés are building community and a circular economy in Cambridge

The Cambridgeshire Repair Café Network has long helped residents organise repair cafés in their local community. Run by local charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint, it connects residents to a global grassroots movement that combats waste through a more circular economy. The aim is simple: help people repair their personal items rather than replace them, while fostering community, sharing knowledge, and encouraging sustainable living.

University of Cambridge Repair Cafés

This year, the University of Cambridge took its first steps into this movement by hosting its inaugural repair café at the West Hub in April, followed by another at the School of Clinical Medicine in October. Led by John Nicolson, Technician Development Advisor, and supported by the University’s Environmental Sustainability Team, in partnership with Cambridge Carbon Footprint, the events attracted considerable interest from both University staff and the wider public. Around 80 participants volunteered 87 hours, breathing a new lease of life into 53 repaired items and preventing 96 kg of waste from being generated.

While currently only for personal items - no lab equipment is being fixed, for instance - the benefits to the institution are significant and multifaceted. Through repairing items rather than buying new ones, repair cafés help to cut 'Scope 3 emissions' (the indirect emissions associated with activities individuals don’t own, such as supply chains or the transport of waste). They also bring together colleagues from different departments, strengthen connections between the University and local partners, and empower staff through shared purpose and practical action.

We’re proud of our technicians

The repair café initiative is also a showcase for the skills and contributions of the University’s technical staff. Technicians are incredibly skilled problem-solvers - practical, inventive, and quietly integral to the University’s success - and they have been at the heart of the repair café movement in the University. It was technicians who first suggested holding repair cafés in the University, a Technician Development Adviser (John Nicolson) who took the lead in organising the first cafés, and brilliant technical staff who ensured the success of these events by showing up on the day with their tools and their specialist knowledge to repair everything from backpacks to clocks, lamps and jewellery.

So what’s next?

While it’s still early days, the signs are promising. The next University of Cambridge repair café will happen on 28 March at the Cambridge Festival 2026.

A dedicated University of Cambridge repair café page has just launched, where University members can sign up to become a repairer, suggest demonstration workshops, and find like-minded colleagues.

Departments will soon be able to organise their own repair cafés and book out a physical toolkit to support them (booking processes are still in development – keep an eye on the repair café page for more information).

Members of the public can find out more about upcoming University repair cafés on this public webpage.

Other related ways for University members to contribute to a more circular economy include:

• furniture relocation services provided by Facilitates Management Logistics
• the Warp It reuse platform
• the Equipment Sharing Database
• the digital For Sale and Wanted marketplace on VivaEngage.

The University of Cambridge Repair Café Network is run by John Nicolson and the Environmental Sustainability Team, in partnership with local charity Cambridge Carbon Footprint.

You can find more about our technical staff on the Technician Development website.

You can read more about the University’s environmental commitments, approach and progress by visiting the Environmental Sustainability website.