THE EVENT
Fixing with, not for
The Restart Project describes events where people teach each other how to fix broken and slow devices, from tablets to toasters.
How a session runsA repair event is a pop-up workshop.
Volunteers with tools and know-how sit down with people and their broken things, from toasters to tablets, and try to fix them together. The aim is to keep gadgets working for longer and pass on repair skills.
- Fix it with the owner
- Look before you test
- Share what you learn
- How volunteer repair clubs work
THE SHORT ANSWER
Repair is a skill
worth sharing.
This site is an independent guide.
It is not affiliated with any church, club, institute or repair network.
THE RULES
Spare parts by law
In 2021 the government said manufacturers would have to make spare parts available, which it expected to extend product lifespans by up to 10 years.
See the numbers
SAFETY
Look first
HSE says most electrical safety defects can be found by looking, though some only show up in testing by a competent person.
Check the basics
HOW A SESSION USUALLY RUNS
A table, some tools,
and patience.
An outline of a typical session, based on how The Restart Project describes repair events: people teaching each other to fix broken and slow devices. Groups differ in how they run.
Book in the item
The owner brings a broken or slow device and describes the fault to a volunteer.
Diagnose together
Volunteer and owner look at it side by side, so the owner learns what went wrong.
Fix, or know why not
Some items are repaired on the spot; others need a part or turn out not to be worth fixing.
Record the result
Many groups log each repair. The Open Repair Alliance is building a shared standard for this data to spot common faults.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
A lot of waste,
a longer life.
One figure on how much electrical waste the UK makes,
one on what spare parts could add.
≈ 1.5m tonnes
Electrical waste generated in the UK each year
The government's March 2021 announcement on new ecodesign rules said the UK generates around 1.5 million tonnes of electrical waste every year.
E-WASTE · GOV.UK
up to 10 years
Extra product life expected from spare parts rules
The same announcement said making spare parts available for appliances such as fridges, washing machines and TVs was expected to extend lifespans by up to 10 years.
LIFESPAN · GOV.UK
International Repair Day, coordinated by The Restart Project with partner networks, held its tenth edition on Saturday 17 October 2026.
ELECTRICAL CHECKS
How much checking
does it need?
Repair groups handle a lot of plug-in equipment. Pick a situation to see what HSE says about inspecting and testing portable electrical equipment. The bar shows how much formal inspection HSE points to.
Based on HSE's answers to popular questions about portable appliance testing (PAT). This is general information, not health and safety advice for your group.
WHY THE DATA MATTERS
Every fix
is a data point.
The Open Repair Alliance says community repair groups record what they fix in different ways, and it is building an open standard so that data can be pooled. The more groups share, the more it reveals about recurring faults and barriers to repair.
The Restart Project says the insights from hundreds of thousands of fixes help it argue for products that are easier to repair. Whatever your view of that, pooled repair data shows which gadgets tend to fail and why.
In conversation
Questions people ask
What is a community repair event?
A session where volunteers help people fix their own broken things. The Restart Project describes events where people teach each other how to fix devices, from tablets to toasters.
Do repair groups have to PAT test everything every year?
HSE says the Electricity at Work Regulations 1989 require equipment that could cause injury to be kept safe, but do not make inspection or testing, or annual testing, a legal requirement. The right frequency depends on the equipment and where it is used.
Who can check electrical equipment?
HSE says a sensible, trained person can do visual inspections in many low-risk settings, but combined inspection and testing needs the right equipment and the knowledge to use it and understand the results.
What changed with the 2021 spare parts rules?
The government announced in March 2021 that manufacturers would be legally obliged to make spare parts available for products such as fridges, washing machines and TVs, alongside new A to G energy labels.
What is International Repair Day?
An annual celebration of repair coordinated by The Restart Project with partner networks. The tenth edition was held on Saturday 17 October 2026.
Sources
Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.