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Image Credit: Possible
In a significant boost for climate action, climate charity Possible and social enterprise The Restart Project has secured £1.27 million in National Lottery funding to launch four innovative community repair hubs across London. These 'Fixing Factories' will offer residents the chance to have their broken appliances repaired at no cost and acquire valuable repair skills.
The announcement, made earlier this week, detailed that this funding—granted through the National Lottery Community Fund's Climate Action Fund—will support the creation of four such hubs in London. These hubs are planned for Camden, Haringey, Acton, and potentially Hackney or Islington.
The initiative targets a major environmental issue: electrical waste, one of the fastest-growing waste streams worldwide and a significant contributor to climate change.
Two pilot Fixing Factories, launched in Brent and Camden in 2022 by Possible and The Restart Project, have already made an impact. To date, they have diverted three tonnes of e-waste from landfills and cut 53 tonnes of CO2 emissions while engaging over 1,000 people in community repair activities.
Dermot Jones, the project manager for Fixing Factories, praised the funding award and stressed the crucial role of reducing e-waste in the broader fight against climate change.
"It is incredibly exciting to be able to continue our work at the Queen's Crescent Fixing Factory [in Camden] and open up three more Fixing Factories across London," he said. "E-waste is a significant problem in addressing climate change; it's a symptom of our culture of overconsumption and is the fastest growing waste stream globally."
Jones highlighted that the new hubs could inspire Londoners to rethink their consumption habits. He noted an "increasing appetite" among the public and businesses to repair electronic items.
"With this funding, not only can we continue reducing e-waste on a local level, we can start building a culture of making your stuff last longer, where people see the opportunities of keeping appliances going rather than trading them in for a newer model – which is all the more important during both a climate crisis and a cost of living crisis," he said.
Recent research from London Recycles supports this trend, revealing that 73% of Londoners are open to repairing rather than replacing their items, provided the process is straightforward.
Despite this willingness, accessibility remains a significant challenge. The research indicates that nearly two-thirds of Londoners find a shortage of nearby, affordable repair shops, underscoring a gap in repair services.
Recent statistics showing the UK as the second-highest per capita producer of electrical waste—or e-waste—globally underscore the urgency of addressing this issue.
Shelini Kotecha, The Restart Project's Fixing Factory project manager, said the new Fixing Factories would "bring affordable repair to London high streets and teach people how to fix their own electronic appliances, taking us one step closer to breaking our throwaway relationship with our stuff."
"Over the last decade, we've seen the community repair movement grow and flourish," she added. "Whether it's toasters or tablets, people want to fix their electricals rather than throwing them away. Often, community-led repair is the only option for these products, so we're delighted to be scaling up the Fixing Factories over the next three years."
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