On Wednesday, Victoria and Sam had the pleasure of attending the 3rd Parliamentary Repair Café – and what a brilliant, energising day it turned out to be
A huge congratulations and thank you goes to The Restart Project, Back Market and the Community Repair Network for organising such an impactful event. Bringing together so many passionate individuals and organisations, it created a space that truly celebrated repair, reuse and the circular economy in action!
Among the highlights of the day we met an incredible mix of people from across the UK who are embedding circular principles into their work – from local community repair groups to national organisations and institutions. With over 100 repair café representatives in attendance, there was a real sense of shared purpose, and we even spotted Brighton’s busiest man, Dr David Greenfield!
It was also encouraging to see such strong political engagement, with 91 MPs attending – including our local MP, Chris Ward – to learn more about the Repair and Reuse Declaration. Even more promising was the fact that 30 MPs added their names on the day, building on the already strong 112 existing signatories!
We were particularly inspired by a speech from Mary Creagh CBE MP (Minister for Nature), who reinforced the importance of putting repairability at the heart of product design. She highlighted how repair and reuse can play a crucial role in achieving key government goals, including improving air quality, reaching net zero targets and protecting nature.
With estimates suggesting the circular economy could contribute £18 billion annually to the UK economy – and a Circular Economy Strategy expected to be released soon (read more – here ) – it’s clear that this movement is gaining real traction.
We left the event feeling inspired, optimistic and excited for what comes next.
