Eco Church brings Repair Cafe to Garden Quarter

On Saturday 14th November, St Thomas’s Repair Cafe will host its second event where volunteer repairers fix items brought in by the public, and welcomes visitors from local communities.

St. Thomas’s Repair Cafe was officially opened by Lord Mayor Sherin Akhtar on May 9th 2026 and has been set up with support from Chester Repair Cafe who recently celebrated their 2nd birthday.

Repair Cafe’s typically see a wide variety of items for repair from toasters to bikes, teddies to trousers, but the first event at St. Thomas’s saw out-of-the blue objects presented for repair such as a limping Nativity camel, a grandmother clock and a DJ’s turntable.  The Lord Mayor’s Chain of Office even received a close-up quality inspection!

St. Thomas’s Repair Cafe comes as the first to be opened as part of Chester Repair Cafe Collective, an exciting new project by Friends of the Earth Chester and District.

Having established Chester Repair Cafe in 2024 to great success, the group wants to do more to promote the repair and reuse movement across the area.  Kerry and Hannah from Chester Repair Cafe attended the Parliamentary Repair Cafe in the Palace of Westminster back in March this year, where they joined repair groups from across the UK at a repair cafe in Parliament, to call for policies to make it easier to repair our things.

The UK is the 2nd largest producer of Waste Electrical and Electronic (WEEE) in the world in addition to being one of the largest contributors to the fast fashion crisis so something needs to be done.

Kerry, Project Lead for Chester Repair Cafe Collective, says:

"It’s fantastic to see the Repair Cafe movement growing in our area, as well as nationally.  They’re wonderful events to be part of and it’s really exciting to have a new Repair Cafe in Chester, especially being so close to our University and student community. "

Rev'd Anne-Marie Naylor of St. Thomas’s Church says:

“St Thomas’s is an Eco-church - we love helping people and we love the environment. Repair Cafe’s are a brilliant way to help people make things last, save money and perhaps learn some new skills to pass on. All that and cake too!”

If you'd like to get involved please email:

stthomasrepaircafe@gmail.com

If you’d like to get something repaired please come along on Saturday 14th November at 10.30 to St. Thomas’s Church, 3 Cheyney Road, Chester, CH1 4AG.