Promoting your repair cafe

If no-one knows about your repair cafe, they won’t show up! Getting the word out is a key step to ensuring the success of your project.

Modes of promotion

Depending on who you want to reach, and what you’re familiar with, you can promote your repair cafe in a variety of ways. Here are a few of the most common ways to get eyes on your project:

  • Social media posts and events - posting on Facebook and Instagram can be effective at disseminating information to a wider audience.

  • Physical material - flyers and posters are good to hand out or display near where you’ll be hosting the repair cafe. Volunteers can also hand them out to family and friends, or do letterbox drops.

  • Emails and newsletters - ask local organisations if you can send them an event to include in their email newsletters! Sustainability groups are a good starting point.

  • Local groups, clubs, and organisations - community groups like school P&C’s and sporting clubs often have noticeboards or group chats, in which they can share your upcoming event. Sometimes, local radio will be interested in chatting with you as well!

When should you begin to promote?

You can promote at almost all stages of developing your repair cafe! Whether calling out for volunteers, or promoting your upcoming event, sharing tailored communications can help generate momentum and interest. In general, get serious about advertising your repair cafe at least a month before your first event. This way, people have time to pencil you in, and it’s more likely you’ll stick in their heads. Remember: you don’t have to do this all yourself! Ask your volunteers if any of them have interest or experience in promotion, and work together to get the community interested.

Promotion is key in building long-term relationships with the community, so don’t leave it to the last minute. Having a clear timeline and strategy for how you will go about advertising your repair cafe is an important step in developing your cafe.

How SEE change can help

SEE Change has a regular newsletter that can help promote your repair cafe, and social media channels we can use to get more eyes on your project. We also have experience running repair cafes, and can help you decide on a communications timeline that suits your goal.