Cardiff Repair Week, a city-wide initiative encouraging residents to repair their items instead of throwing them away, runs from March 3rd - March 9th.
Getting
involved not only helps reduce carbon impact but can also save you money.
Why
Repair?
Recent
data from Censuswide reveals that Cardiff residents could have wasted up to
£132 million in 2024 alone by replacing items that could have been repaired. On
average, each person spent £444 on replacements for items that might have been
fixable.
Key
Findings:
- 50% of Cardiff
residents worry about the cost of replacing broken items.
- 53% would prefer
to repair items themselves if they knew how.
- 56% are interested
in learning repair skills to save money.
- The most commonly
discarded items without checking for repair options are:
- Washing machines
(20%)
- Headphones (19%)
- Sofa/chair/bench
(19%)
Join
the Growing Repair Culture:
- 45% of residents
enjoy repairing items with others and want to learn more.
- 45% would attend
more repair events if available locally.
- 54% report a sense
of achievement from repairing things.
Special
Event: Repair Café at St Davids Shopping Centre
Join
us on Saturday, March 8th at St Davids Shopping Centre from 9.30am until 1pm,
outside H. Samual, for a special Repair Café event focusing on textiles. Staff
from Repair Café Wales and Cardiff Council will demonstrate how to repair
clothes.
Cardiff
Market Repair Services
Cardiff
Market offers several stalls providing repair services, including:
- Yans & Sons
Heel Bar: Shoe repairs with a 5% discount if the customer references
Repair Week.
- Carlines
Jewellery: Jewellery repairs with a 5% discount if the customer references
Repair Week.
- On Time: Watch
repairs.
- Sew Elegant:
Clothing repairs.
- Gold Reserves:
Jewellery repairs.
Other
shops across the city also offer repair services. For a full list of retailers,
visit https://www.keepcardifftidy.com/repairweek/
Cllr
Norma Mackie, Cabinet Member for Waste,
Street Scene & Environmental Services, said: “In today's world,
we've become a bit too quick to throw things out without realising that a
simple fix could save us a lot of money! Before you throw away that
broken item, why not see if it can be repaired? Not only will your wallet thank
you, but the planet will too! Repairing is even better than recycling, so let's
give our items a second chance before saying goodbye. Let's fix it, not ditch
it.”
Get
Involved!
Embrace
the repair culture and join Cardiff Repair Week to learn new skills, save
money, and help the environment. Let's make Cardiff a city that values fixing
over throwing away!
Feel
free to share this exciting initiative with your friends and family. Together,
we can make a ’Difference!