Celebrating 150 Successful Repairs at EVI Repair Café!

We are thrilled to announce a fantastic milestone – 150 items repaired and restored at the EVI Repair Café since its launch in February 2023. This achievement has been made possible by the dedication of 17 wonderful volunteers who have supported us throughout the year.

One Monday a month since February 2023, our Repair Café has been a bustling hub of activity, with our wonderful volunteers skilfully repairing a diverse range of items, including clothing, textiles, bicycles, tech, household electricals, jewellery (complete with a free jewellery cleaning service!), woodwork, toys, and much more. But it’s not just about fixing things; it’s also about helping Blaenau Gwent save money, reduce waste in landfill, seek advice (sometimes an item is simply beyond repair), share skills, and come together as a community. Scroll down for our 2023 repair success stories!

We want to extend a massive thank you to our volunteer and staff team who have put so much into this community initiative this year. As we celebrate these successes, we would love to invite more volunteers to join our repair team and make a difference in our community in 2024. If you’re handy with a sewing needle or machine, can fix electrical items or have other repair skills, come and join the team (you don’t have to be an expert!). Email gavin@evi.cymru or drop by to find out more.

Repair Success Stories & Testimonials 2023

A heartwarming success story from our Repair Café – the restoration of Richard’s cherished binoculars case. Initially in complete disrepair, Sue, our talented sewing volunteer, meticulously restored it to its former glory. With immense sentimental value, the case was a cherished gift from a dear friend years ago, with the friend’s name inscribed.

‘A big thank you to Sue and the entire EVI Repair Café team for a tremendous job. I’m thrilled to see the binocular case restored in my friend’s memory.’ – Richard, EVI Repair Cafe Visitor

A big thank you to David, an electrical fixer volunteer, who has given his time and expertise to EVI Repair Cafe this year, successfully repairing numerous items and saving them from landfill!

“The Café has allowed me to “give back” some of my skills to help local people with their faulty equipment.  I get so much joy and such a warm feeling from talking to the local people who are so grateful that we can even look at the problems and, on many occasions, repair the item!  I do get frustrated when I cannot repair the items but even at these occasions our customers are so thankful for even trying but also get such a lovely feeling when we can repair these items and send our customers home with a smiling face.” – David, Electrical Fixer Volunteer.

“I was really impressed! First-time visit, really warm welcome, and a massive thanks to Howie for being so creative at trying to find a way to repair my son’s rucksack! The repair cafe had a great buzz about it, lots of repairs happening in many different categories – I wouldn’t hesitate to come along again if something needs repairing, thank you. We’re so pleased”  – EVI Repair Cafe Visitor

“Thank you all so much in the repair cafe! My blind is now up and looks beautiful! Here’s a picture of it up in my house :)” – EVI Repair Cafe Visitor

“What a warm and friendly welcome when I popped into EVI Repair Café . What a brilliant idea to save our landfills. There was a short queue.. but honestly with a free cuppa the time flew. I’d highly recommend.” –  EVI Repair Cafe Visitor

“Great work everyone. Thank you EVI and volunteers for running these sessions. What a great way to prevent items going to landfill and a fun way to develop and learn new skills at the same time” – Keep Wales Tidy Blaenau Gwent 

EVI Repair Cafe will be back in 2024. Keep an eye on our socials and Repair Cafe webpage for upcoming dates and info!

We have a range of other community initiatives at EVI, from our EVI Pantry and Community Bank, to volunteering opportunities, info & advice, and more. Head here to discover what’s on!

EVI Repair Cafe is part of the Repair Cafe Wales network.

ProMo Cymru, charity and social enterprise, operates and is the custodian of the Ebbw Vale Institute. We are proud to have saved EVI for future community use.

Diolch / Thank you to our contributors. EVI is currently funded by the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.*