Learn How to Repair your Bike at the Swindon Repair Café

Swindon has a great selection of cycle shops and bike mechanics to help keep you pedaling throughout the year. It’s important to support the independent shops and mechanics wherever possible – they can provide great advice and support on bike maintenance.

There are also opportunities to get your bike checked and learn maintenance skills through some free community events; one of these is the Swindon Repair Café, held every two months at Eastcott Community center in Old Town.

The Repair Café movement is a reaction to today’s throw-away mentality. Bring a broken item to the café and volunteers will help you mend it, advise on repair or explain why it can’t be fixed. It’s a social way of keeping good stuff out of landfill.

The café bit is also important. Have a coffee and some cake whilst waiting and there’s usually some live music being played as well. There’s even a Free Shop where you can donate/pick up household items and clothes for free.

Swindon Cycle Campaign has been supporting the Swindon Repair Café for the past few years arranging for a bike mechanic to be on hand to help repair your bike for free (wherever possible).  

Repair Cafés are held at the Eastcott Community Centre, Savernake Street Swindon, SN1 3LZ on the first Sunday every other month. The next event is on Sunday 3^rd March between 2-5pm, then again on 5^th May, 7^th July, 1^st Sep and 3rd Nov. Just turn up, no booking is required but be prepared to wait if it’s busy.

For more information follow Eastcott Community Centre and Swindon Repair Café on Facebook, or see www.repaircafe.org. The start-up of the Swindon Repair Café was supported by a Swindon Borough Council New Shoots Grant and donations of Sugru. Swindon Cycle Campaign are able to provide a bike mechanic for the events thanks to a Co-Op Local Community grant.

Can’t make these events? Booking your bike in with a local bike shop or mobile cycle mechanic is the best thing to do. Otherwise there are a few opportunities during the year to get your bike checked and basic repairs done for free at other local events. Roger Cole, a local church minister can be found most Monday afternoons (2.30 -4.30pm) outside the shops in Tadpole Garden Village giving up his time to help the community by repairing people’s bikes for free. You can also keep an eye on the Swindon Travel Choices website to find details of any other upcoming events offering free bike repairs.