Repair & Share

In 2024, we launched Repair & Share, a weekly drop in repair cafe in partnership with Repair Cafe Aotearoa and funded by Auckland Council’s Waste Minimisation Innovation Fund. Funding enabled Auckland Library of Tools to hire a Repair Cafe Coordinator, give koha to our volunteers, purchase supplies required for repairs, as well as tea and snacks provided to our volunteers and guests.

In the 8 months that Repair & Share ran;

  • 446 items were worked on in total

  • 97.7% of clothing/textiles were successfully mended

  • 100% of hand tools, furniture and toys were fixed

  • 51.6% small kitchen items were fixed (e.g., kettle, toaster)

  • 550kg waste prevented from landfill

  • 4,498kg CO2 emissions prevented

  • 40 people volunteered

  • 557 people attended 37 events (including 7 workshops)

  • 560 hours were completed by our Coordinator

  • 2175 hours were gifted by volunteers (including key organisers from Auckland Library of Tools and Repair Cafe Aotearoa)

We educated hundreds of people about repair and extending the lifespan of their belongings. Approximately 10% of  Repair Cafe attendees became repeat visitors, showing a shift in how they think about their broken belongings. Many attendees left the repair café eager to go home and find something else to fix. 

For more info on Repair & Share, please see our blog posts:

2025 Repair & Share Update:

Unfortunately Repair & Share was funded for one year only, in 2025 we will run Repair Cafes on an ad hoc basis. Please let Auckland Council know if you’d like it to continue!

There are other repair cafe events around Auckland however - take a look at Repair Cafe Aotearoa and Doughnut Economics NZ for many of the regular and upcoming events.

Please keep an eye out on our events page, Facebook and Instagram for future Repair & Share events.

Thanks to our wonderful volunteers for keeping this community service going!