Repair Café

2. Prepare to host

• Confirm competent repairers, accepted categories, refusal criteria, tools and safe work surfaces before inviting items. Do not default to electrical, gas or safety-critical repairs without specialist competence and suitable arrangements.
• Choose booked or drop-in intake. Ask for item type, fault, relevant history and parts information; photographs may help. Explain that an accepted request is an assessment, not a repair guarantee.
• Confirm venue permission, insurance and liability arrangements with appropriate local advice. An organization’s sample waiver does not establish your legal protection.
• Prepare item records and a clear journey from check-in to the appropriate repairer, then outcome and departure. Owners stay with items; agree the policy for parts costs and unfinished work.
• For the official route, complete the current Repair Café start/registration process before claiming affiliation. Volunteer repair work is free; supported initiatives are voluntary/noncommercial and use the required name/website reference.

Choose the duration after the format, activity and staffing are settled. Include arrival, instruction where needed, the activity itself, natural transitions and clearing. Use a rehearsal or the experienced partner’s plan to check what fits. If the gathering extends through much of a day, arrange breaks and continued host coverage; do not simply stretch a short-session plan.

3. Create your Eventbrite listing

1. Open a new event

   Create an event on Eventbrite

2. Supported Repair Café event title Copy

   Repair Café [location]

   Independent event title Copy

   [Independent event name]

3. Short summary Copy

   Explore a repair alongside a skilled volunteer and understand the next useful step.

4. Date, time and location

   • Enter the confirmed date, start and end times, venue time zone, address and exact meeting point. Choose the length after agreeing the activity format and the venue arrangements.

5. Supported Repair Café description Copy

   Bring [accepted item categories] for assessment and suitable repair help from our volunteer team. [Booking request or drop-in process.] Owners stay with their items. Successful repair is not guaranteed, and the team may decline work outside its skills or safe arrangements. Official volunteer repair help is free; [confirmed parts policy]. When: [date, start and end, time zone]. Where: [venue, address and exact meeting point]. Hosted by: [actual host and any confirmed partner]. Registration: [working route, what it reserves and any intake deadline]. Cost: Free volunteer assessment and repair help; [confirmed parts-cost policy]. Access and participation: [verified route, seating, age/supervision and activity-specific arrangements]. Questions: [host contact]. Repair Café information: https://www.repaircafe.org/en/

   Independent repair description Copy

   Bring [accepted item categories] for assessment and suitable repair help from our volunteer team. [Booking request or drop-in process.] Owners stay with their items. Successful repair is not guaranteed, and the team may decline work outside its skills or safe arrangements. Attendance and parts arrangements: [confirmed independent-event policy]. When: [date, start and end, time zone]. Where: [venue, address and exact meeting point]. Hosted by: [actual independent host and any confirmed partner]. Registration: [working route, what it reserves and any intake deadline]. Cost: [confirmed price/free arrangement and what is included]. Access and participation: [verified route, seating, age/supervision and activity-specific arrangements]. Questions: [host contact].

6. Set up Eventbrite tickets

   Ticket name Copy

   Repair assessment request
   • For advance requests, set quantities separately by repair skill and available repairer time. A request becomes a confirmed appointment only after the item is matched to a suitably skilled repairer. For drop-ins, explain accepted items and when intake closes.
   • Use free assessment-request tickets for the supported Repair Café format. State agreed parts costs separately. For an independent gathering, state the actual attendance price and what it covers.
   • Set booking opening and closing times, per-order limits, waitlist and cancellation arrangements.
   Paid tickets for an independent gathering

   Review currency, fees, refund terms and payment/payout requirements before taking payment.

7. Signup details

   • Choose the actual organizer profile and public or private visibility. Collect only information useful for hosting.
   • For advance requests, collect item type, fault, relevant history and parts information. Explain what the request reserves and how the team confirms suitability and time.
   • Put the confirmed meeting point, host contact and relevant preparation in the confirmation settings.

8. Image and final check

   • Optional: add an image you own or have permission to publish, relevant tags and useful FAQs.
   • Check format, staffing, access, materials, date, address, cost and capacity. Replace every bracketed field. Preview the listing and booking flow on desktop and mobile before publishing.

4. Invite people

For a supported Repair Café, include “Repair Café information: https://www.repaircafe.org/en/” in the post.

5. Host the gathering

Lead the experience, step by step

1. Check in the owner and item, confirm accepted scope and place the request in the right skill queue. Give an honest estimate of the wait or decline further intake.
2. The repairer assesses the item with its owner, explains what can be attempted and agrees any parts cost before proceeding.
3. Invite the owner to observe or help where safe. Stop if the fault exceeds available skills or the work becomes unsafe; do not let the queue pressure the repairer.
4. Explain the outcome, remaining limitations and any referral or parts needed. Do not present an untested item as safe. Return the item and record the outcome, then reset the station.
5. Close intake based on remaining workload, finish safe handovers and clear tools and waste after visitors leave.

Know when to change the plan

If a repairer cancels, reduce or close that skill category rather than move its work to an unqualified volunteer. If a repair overruns, reassess the queue and communicate revised options. Unfinished objects leave with their owners; do not create an unplanned storage or offsite repair service.

A welcome you can use

“Welcome to [event name]. We’ll start by explaining how the activity works and who can help. You can ask questions as we go. Let us know if an arrangement needs adjusting.”