Farnham Repair Café (FRC) is thrilled to announce that they have received the King’s Award for Voluntary Service. This award celebrates groups that are making a big difference to their local community, where volunteers are in the driving seat and that have the highest standards in everything they do.
Founded in 2015 and gaining charity status in 2017, FRC has grown into a vital resource for Farnham residents seeking to repair broken or faulty items, reducing waste and saving money. It repairs household objects for the local community, including electrical items, like irons and kettles, mechanical items, furniture, laptops, bikes, clocks clothing and textiles.
The café, which operates monthly at The Spire Church in Farnham, has welcomed almost 6,000 product owners and successfully repaired more than 2,600 items. Repairing the products has diverted over seven tonnes of waste from landfill, avoided over sixty-eight tonnes of carbon emissions and saved local residents an estimated £220,000 in replacement costs.
Everything FRC does is done by volunteers, from repairs to running the welcome desk, to marketing, fundraising, strategy and everything in between. Since starting in February 2015 volunteers have contributed their time and expertise, and the current team contributes an estimated 2,220 hours a year. The repairers have an amazing set of skills and relish the challenge of some of the trickier items that come in for repair. Between them they have decades of experience in electrical and mechanical engineering, software development, making clothes and furniture and much more.
Professor Martin Charter, Founder and Chair of FRC, expressed his gratitude for the volunteers’ unwavering commitment. “Our volunteers are the heart and soul of this initiative,” he said. “Their passion for repair not only helps individuals save money but also contributes to the larger goal of reducing CO2 emissions and combating the throwaway culture. We are thrilled to have received this recognition.”
Clive Handy, long-time volunteer said, “I joined FRC shortly after it started and after I had retired as a jet engineer. For me, the best part is when you’ve fixed a product and you feel the gratitude of the owner and the sense of achievement that something has been saved from landfill. The camaraderie with my ‘fellow fixers’, many of whom have become friends over the years, is also important to me.”
Mike Baker, satisfied product owner, stated, “I enjoy the fantastic community atmosphere of FRC. I always have excellent service from FRC repairers and have had a number of successful repairs completed that have included a complicated hi-fi cassette player. In addition, both me and my daughter were incredibly grateful to FRC textiles team who have a brought back to life a teddy bear and Basil Brush.”
The Mayor of Farnham, Councillor Brodie Mauluka said, “This is a much-deserved award for a wonderful group of local volunteers. Farnham Town Council is pleased to have supported FRC from the outset and to have helped with their transition to a charity status. Farnham is very lucky to have such an effective group which is doing so much to give a new lease of life to items that would otherwise end up in landfill.”
As well as supporting the local community, FRC also supports the wider repair movement. It has welcomed many groups from other towns who are setting up their own repair café, to share how they operate. FRC has initiated a knowledge sharing network of over 20 local repair cafés called the Greater Surrey Repair Café Network, and after a visit acted as a model for the launch of the Southern Taiwan Repair Café Alliance. With support from UCA, to help demonstrate its impact, FRC developed its website – frc.cfsd.org.uk/ – and a repair carbon calculator that is used by more than 100 repair cafés worldwide.
King’s Award for Voluntary Service
Every day, millions of people across the UK are making a difference by volunteering. Each year, outstanding examples of this work are celebrated through the King’s Award for Voluntary Service (KAVS).
Created in 2002 to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Golden Jubilee and previously known as The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service (QAVS), the Award has been shining a light on the fantastic work of voluntary groups from all across the UK for many years.
Equivalent to an MBE, KAVS is the highest Award given to local voluntary groups in the UK, and they are awarded for life.
The King’s Award for Voluntary Service – kavs.dcms.gov.uk/
