A new community repair centre for household items has launched in Camden.

The Fixing Factory, in Queen’s Crescent, opened on Thursday (October 27)

It will allow local people to resist throwing away household appliances and buying expensive new goods – damaging the environment in the process.

It will provide learning opportunities for local residents so they can repair appliances themselves.

The Fixing Factory will be reaching out to local repair businesses in order to foster a "repair ecosystem" – meaning people can access high-quality fixers.

Earlier this year, the inaugural Fixing Factory opened in Brent. It repairs broken laptops, desktops and tablets of local residents and then gives them to those in the community who need them, helping reduce the “digital divide”. 

Dermot Jones, Fixing Factories Camden project manager for climate charity Possible, said: “We’re thrilled to have launched the Fixing Factory on Queen’s Crescent.

"The level of community interest we’ve seen already has been huge. E-waste is a significant problem in addressing climate change and our culture of overconsumption.

"With this project, not only can we start 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.”

Camden mayor Cllr Nasim Ali cut the ribbon at the new centre.

He said: “The Fixing Factory will be a great opportunity for our local community to learn more about climate change while also providing a much-needed service. I was glad to be able to welcome them to Queen’s Crescent at today’s opening ceremony.”

Electronics generate roughly 3.7% of global greenhouse emissions and centres dedicated to repair practices create up to 10 times the jobs compared to disposal sites. 

Fixing Factories is a co-production with the Restart Project, and training partners Mer-IT. It is funded by the National Lottery Climate Action Fund and CAST.

Camden Council supported the Queen’s Crescent Fixing Factory in finding its location and Adam Harrison, cabinet member for a sustainable Camden, said: “We’re delighted to welcome the Fixing Factory to Camden.  We want to challenge the “take-make-dispose” model of the linear economy in Camden and replace it with an alternative which values repair and reuse, while cutting consumption emissions, reducing waste and helping residents during the cost of living crisis.”