The Silsden Repair Cafe is located near its Ferrybridge facilities in Knottingley and the other, Otley Maker Space, is close to its Skelton Grange facility currently under construction in Leeds.
The funding aims to support the two repair cafés support the local community to repair rather than replace faulty household items, diverting waste away from landfill and saving households money.
The Silsden Repair Cafe said that it will use the funding to ease its operating costs, including rent, materials and equipment.
The cafe also intends to use the funding to undertake volunteer management training, upskilling its forty volunteers to continue delivering the repair cafe’s beneficial work, for which it received the BBC Radio Leeds “Make a Difference” Green Award in September.
Louise Farnell, Silsden Repair Cafe lead, said: “Our volunteers are integral to everything we do. With thanks to enfinium’s support, we can invest in training to grow and equip the team to continue to deliver an award-winning service for our community. We look forward to continuing to help the residents of Silsden reduce their waste and live more sustainably.”
The Otley Maker Space said it will use the funding to buy equipment that will extend the range of items the cafe can repair. This includes a stereoscopic microscope to find faults in electronic devices and a new tablet to enable the cafe to 3D print replacement components.
Ian Reid, secretary of Otley Maker Space said: “enfinium’s funding has allowed us to expand our repair services, helping people keep cherished items for longer, reduce waste, and even save money in the process. Providing a service for people to live more sustainably is needed more than ever, and with enfinium’s Repair Cafe Support Fund, we are able to do exactly that.”
To date, 14 Repair Cafés have received funding from enfinium’s ‘Repair Cafe Support Fund’ of £60,000 over a three year-period since its launch in March 2024.
The fund will reopen on 1 January 2025 and run until 31 May 2025. Eligible Repair Cafes can apply for funding of up to £1,500 per annum before the May 2025 deadline.
Philip Curds, head of ESG and sustainability at enfinium, said: “Throwing away household items is both costly for individuals and harmful for the environment. Repair cafés go a long way to addressing both of those problems, enabling communities to save money and divert their faulty household items away from harmful landfill. It is for this reason that we are proud to provide funding to these two repair cafés, both of which intend to use their grant funding to further enhance an already appreciated and important service.”
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