Last year WNC Repair Cafe volunteers met 25 times at 14 different locations across 4 counties, helping 636 people fix 838 items with an 87% success rate. We strengthened local community connections at Buncombe County Libraries, Haywood Community College and the Asheville Tool Library, while reaching new communities in Madison and Transylvania counties and beyond. WNC Repair Cafe volunteers helped design semester-long repair skills education programs, reaching youth in Haywood County as young as 2nd grade.
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| Hands-on learning in Haywood County |
WNC Repair Cafe organizers spoke at conferences, sat on community repair panels, and interviewed with national media outlets. Our friends in the Repair Cafe NC network expanded their offerings across the state, organizing impressive events in the Triangle, Winston-Salem, Charlotte, and Henderson and Transylvania counties. Globally, there are now more than 3,800 registered 'repair cafes' - nearly twice as many as when WNC Repair Cafe volunteers met for the first time in 2018.
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| Mock Repair Cafe at the 2025 Carolina Farm Stewardship Conference |
It's clear we are experiencing a cultural shift in the way people experience - and take full ownership of - the material objects that surround their everyday life. 60% of visitors to 2025 WNC Repair Cafe events noted they were motivated by sustainability. 51% were there to save money and 38% came to learn repair skills. Even more were motivated by a sense of building stronger communities. Many visitors simply didn't have anywhere else to go for repairs.
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| More hands-on learning |
Motivated by community support, we are sustaining the momentum with an ambitious schedule in 2026. We're committed to strengthening existing connections in Buncombe and Haywood Counties, while reaching new communities with a rotation of four events at the Weaverville Community Center, and a series of mobile pop-ups in counties further north.
Follow this link for a complete Google Calendar of 2026 events.
Consider downloading and printing our 2026 Calendar and sharing physical copies within your community.
For further announcements, follow us on Social Media, or send an email to WNCRepairCafe@gmail.com to join our mailing list.
