5 years of Repair Café Blixembosch, a party !!!

Because there is still plenty to repair.

Repair Café Blixembosch lives in the VTA Blixems almost every Thursday. We start setting up tables and chairs, lowering the self-made LED lighting, handing out the nameplates and we can start. The website and Facebook state whether we are open from 14:00 till 17:00 hrs or from 19:00 till 22:00 hrs. There is no Repair Café on the fifth Thursday of the month. And because the community center is closed during school holidays, there is no Repair Café either.

Usually it is busy. In recent years we had the following number of visitors from October till October: 282, 406, 472, 524 and this year until July already 506. A clear upward trend. We try to finish repairs immediately if possible, sometimes our visitors and the repairs have to wait for parts. We started with 12 volunteers in October 2014 and now (mid 2019) we have grown to 17 volunteers. The results show some variations: Between 60 and 80 percent being repaired. The start was made possible by four sponsors Merk pedicure, Cafetaria Blixembosch and Haarmode Rob, each donated 100 Euro and the Lions club donated 250 Euro. Big thanks for that. Tools, a small stock and the right to use the Repair Café name have been paid from that money. All these years Lumens has offered us hospitality at the VTA and we are of course very happy with that.

It's a party to fix things instead of throwing them away. There is plenty of experience, mechanics, electronics, chemists and just handy men and women who have seen a lot and often find a solution together. And don't forget our reception that makes the first visitor contact, keeps records and provides coffee and tea. We use the slogan "Throw it away? No way!". We do not earn money with the repairs but have a lot of joy when a repair is successful and the visitor is satisfied. Especially if it is a precious heirloom or a non-replaceable doll or teddy bear of a child. We learn from every repair. In particular, the "disassembly" of devices can always be better, but actually that is the fault of the developers. Taking too little into account the repair requirement and having too much the mentality "defective means throwing away". Very slowly this is changing and disassembly and repairing becomes easier. On the other hand, PCs, tablets and smartphones provide new challenges. Tablets and smartphones are no longer easy to open and repair, but fixing the software "repair" is part of it.

Fortunately, there are also repairs that are easy once the device or toy is open. And if the repairman has an issue, there is always help from colleagues or the internet and we keep learning all the time. For example, we have standard repairs for Senseos and vacuum cleaners. With those vacuum cleaners you always get dirty fingers, but those are easy to clean. We also have a small stock of capacitors, fuses, screws and glue that we can use. And not to mention a lot of fun when we discover something again. Clothing repairs and help with sewing, some ladies stand their ground. Finally the costs: there are only costs if defective parts have to be replaced, all other contributions are voluntary.

We repair from teddy bear to TV and from antiques to PC, but we do not guarantee that it will work again. On average, more than half of the repairs are successful. And if it doesn't work, we advise our "visitors" what a good alternative is. We all benefit from the Repair Café, the visitors with their repaired stuff and the volunteers with the pleasure and knowledge of how to repair something. A lustrum is fun to celebrate, but at least the repair work continues because that is much more fun. Everyone is welcome on October 24 in the Blixems community center. At 1 o'clock we start with a small official part, we treat ourselves to coffee and cake, and from 2 till 5 we go to repair again. All visitors old and new are welcome.

Hurray!!

ANWB Bicycle Lighting action 2017

In the month of October Repair Café Blixembosch takes part in the De ANWB Light Brigade. This is committed to well-lit cyclists. That is desperately needed. Because research shows that last winter 67% of Dutch people experienced an unsafe traffic situation by cyclists without light. In addition, it appears that 20% of bicycle accidents occur in the twilight / dark. In our Repair Café, bicycles are checked for good bicycle lighting and - where possible - repaired. In addition, points such as the brakes, tire profile and saddle height are checked. The action period is in October. So bicycles are well lit before the winter season starts.

Repair Café Blixembosch conducts its 1000th repair

In less than 2.5 years we have made 1000 attempts to repair your defective stuff for free. More than 600 repairs have also been successful.
The chairman of our neighborhood association has ceremonially handed out the 1000th registration form to our most loyal visitor. Our coordinator then successfully completed the 1000th repair.

Pass-through action of Repair Café Blixembosch

We Brabanders call the top floor of our house the ZundZolder (Waste attic). That is because there are often things that are a waste to throw away. When cleaning up her attic, a local woman comes across a number of disused devices. This time it is not good to leave the still usable devices unused for longer. The holidays are approaching and she contacts us, the volunteers of Repair Café Blixembosch.

Our goal is reuse, so we take over the devices and check them all carefully. If it appears that the devices are still working properly, we will look for new users. Via the internet, we will raffle the devices among those people in our city who have a hard time. The lucky ones come to pick up their new acquisition themselves during our last Repair Café of the year. A nice Christmas gift.
The equipment of the zundzolder is in use again and the new owners are happy with it. Throwing away is a waste. Reuse, that makes us happy.

Smartphone Action

Spare parts and repair webshop ReplaceDirect and the Repair Café Foundation collect old smartphones throughout the month of December in the Netherlands and Flanders to repair them and donate them via Repair Cafés to people who urgently need a new smartphone, but who for example lack the money to buy one themselves. See website Repair Café Organization.
You can also contact us or visit us on December 22nd.

Opening on 3rd Thursday of the month

From January 2017 we also open our doors in the evening from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm, on the 3rd Thursday of the month. The extra evening is provisionally until July. In June we will decide whether the extra day will be definitive or not.

ANWB bicycle lighting campaign

95 percent of cyclists believe that unlit cycling in the dark is dangerous, and yet only 4 in 10 cyclists do not immediately replace a broken bicycle lamp. With good lighting you increase your safety and the chance of a collision in the dark decreases with 20 percent. Our Repair Café therefore participates in the ANWB bicycle lighting campaign. 6 and 13 October are all about bicycle lighting. On those days you can come to us with your bike with defective lighting and together we will see how we can get you back on the road safely.
During the lighting campaign, you can of course also come to us for all other repairs.

Moved to a new room

After a year and a half we moved to another space within the VTA. From today we are on the left side of the entrance, where the primary school library used to be. The first weeks will be a bit of improvisation with the interior, but that is temporary. We now have more space and can help more visitors in parallel.

Opening Repair Café Blixembosch a fact!

Although some bumps had to be overcome, the Repair Café Bixembosch opened its doors on October 16, 2014, as planned.
Our volunteers were present well in advance to prepare everything. The first visitors arrived far before 2 p.m. It was very hectic for the hostesses, also because it was the first time for them. Ineke, who was there for clothing repairs, assisted regularly, so everything went on WELL after a short time.
Not less than 29 visitors came that first afternoon. There were all kind of stuff to repair; from vacuum cleaners to high-pressure cleaners and shavers. Unfortunately, not everything could be repaired and some devices were really ready for recycling.
Some visitors had to wait quite long, but nobody complained. a few choose to postpone their visit until next time. During the evaluation, things will undoubtedly come up that could be different or better, but at the end it was a very successful first Repair Café!

Repair Café Blixembosch opens its doors

From Thursday afternoon, October 16, from 2 till 5, a Repair Café will be held in the VTA Blixems Community Center. Volunteers with different backgrounds will see whether or not the life of your defective items can be extended. The next Repair Café is on October 30 from 2 till 5. After that, the following schedule is basically applied:
Each 1st Thursday of the month in the evening from 7 till 10 and each 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month from 2 to 5.
The Community Center is closed during school holidays and therefore there will be no session of the Repair Cafe either. Look here for the next Repair Café.

Repair Café Blixembosch on Neighbours' Day

On Saturday, September 27, Repair Café Blixembosch will present itself on eighbours' Day. A number of volunteers will provide information about what you can expect from the Repair Café. You can also sign up here as a volunteer or possibly support us.

In the media

There are now 700 Repair Cafés in 18 countries; explanation by founder Martine Postma of Repair Café Nederland and a small demonstration in 'Tijd voor Meldpunt' by Omroep Max on April 3rd, 2015.

In Tros Radar of February 2nd 2015, attention is paid to the by manufacturers planned (short) life span of devices. The program can be viewed here on the Radar site

Our press release about the opening of the Repair Café will be published in Groot Eindhoven of 15-10-2014

In the ED of 10-10-2014, a piece is written by Yolanda Neijts in the City section about the announced opening of the Repair Café.

In the September 2014 issue of Blixemflitsen! Carina Oosting dedicates a redactional piece to the Repair Café in addition to a call for tools and volunteers. The start date of October 16 is also mentioned.

In the July 2014 issue of Blixemflitsen! a call is made for volunteers