Repair cafes

[bikkuri bahn]

I like this concept:

AMSTERDAM — An unemployed man, a retired pharmacist and an upholsterer took their stations, behind tables covered in red gingham. Screwdrivers and sewing machines stood at the ready. Coffee, tea and cookies circulated. Hilij Held, a neighbor, wheeled in a zebra-striped suitcase and extracted a well-used iron. “It doesn’t work anymore,” she said. “No steam.”

 

Ms. Held had come to the right place. At Amsterdam’s first Repair Cafe, an event originally held in a theater’s foyer, then in a rented room in a former hotel and now in a community center a couple of times a month, people can bring in whatever they want to have repaired, at no cost, by volunteers who just like to fix things.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/09/world/europe/amsterdam-tries-to-change-culture-with-repair-cafes.html?src=me&ref=general

 

In Japan I have seen news features about toy repair "hospitals" staffed by volunteers, and back in the days when watches were all mechanical, free watch repair events at department stores.

[cteno4]

Yeah saw this in the times yesterday, nice idea. Be fun to do with trains as well. A local train dealer and I have been talking about how to possibly throw some sort of a casual train meet where folks can share ideas, show stuff off, do mini workshops and maybe help with repairs. Rub has been finding a good place to of it that doesn't cost us...

 

Jeff