Our exciting partnership with Gravesham Repair Cafe commenced in 2025

One year on – an update from Philip Davies of the Repair Cafe and Gravesham Friendly member who also attends the Member Forum meetings.

“Almost one year ago, Gravehsam Friendly very generously began to donate significantly to the running of the Gravesham Repair Cafe for 3 years. In case you are not familiar with what we do, our aim is to prevent all manner of household items needlessly ending up in landfill.  We repair a wide variety of ‘broken’ household items saving people money and inconvenience as well as our planet’s resources. Most items are a relatively easy fix and we have a success rate of 80%.

Highlights and Achievements over the past 12 months:

• More than 500 household items have been repaired including bikes, clocks, sewing machines, radios, garden tools, vacuum cleaners etc as well as mending mountains of clothing. We also sharpen knives, tools, garden shears, secateurs etc.
• We have served thousands of cups of tea/coffee and biscuits to our guests creating a sense of community and friendship.
• Together with Gravesham Friendly we attended Gravesham Borough Councils Fun Day Out at Cyclopark to repair more than 50 bikes for the public as a free service offered by Gravesham Friendly. A really great day out for the public and our volunteers.
• Supplied thermal blankets, wash bags and personal hygiene products to The Sanctuary, a fellow Gravesham Friendly grant recipient who provide services and help to homeless people in Gravesham. The thermal blankets were made from recycled crisp packets by a team of our volunteers.
• Consolidated our second Repair Cage at Vigo and it is bigger and better than ever now and growing ever more so.
• Added an enthusiastic team of crafters, knitters and clothing repairers to the Repair Cafe. Check out ‘Crafty Yarns’ on Facebook and perhaps come and join them.
• Finally, we added a good number of additional volunteers who repair, administer and serve up much needed cups of tea and coffee to our delightful guests and volunteers alike.

To all Gravesham Friendly Members:

• Bring your items for repair
• Come and see what we do and have a cup of coffee and a biscuit on us
• Consider volunteering – it’s fun and we frequently help one another diagnose and repair items
• Come and enjoy our community atmosphere. It’s great FUN!
• Check out Gravesham Repair Cafe on Facebook or visit Graveshamrepaircafe.blogspot,com for dates, venues, updates and news. Any questions can be emailed to Graveshamrepair-cafe@gmail.com

Thank you”