Planning a Repair Week event? Whether you’re organising a repair café, a skills-sharing workshop, a community swap or a hands-on repair demonstration, a little planning can go a long way.
We’ve pulled together some handy tips and ideas to help you plan, promote and deliver a successful event – and make the most of being part of Repair Week.
Start early!
Good events take a little preparation, so give yourself plenty of time to plan.
Think about:
- Your audience: Who would you like to attract? Think about your local community and how to make your event accessible and welcoming.
- Your venue: Make sure you have enough space, suitable facilities and any equipment or materials you’ll need.
- Your team: Will you need volunteers, repair experts, workshop leaders or other partners to help make it happen?
- Your event format: Decide what will happen on the day, how long activities will run for and whether attendees need to bring anything along.
- Health and safety: Consider any risks associated with your activities and make sure you have appropriate arrangements in place.
Don’t forget to submit your event to the Repair Week programme as early as possible to give people time to discover it and plan to attend.
Spread the word
Promotion is key to getting people through the door. Once you’ve completed the event submission form, your event will be added to the Repair Week programme and promoted through London Recycles’ communication channels, including social media and newsletters.
But we’d love you to help spread the word, too! The more we all shout about Repair Week, the more people we can inspire to repair, reuse and rethink waste.
Here are some ideas to get your event noticed:
- Email your networks: Send an invitation to your mailing lists and any local media contacts.
- Get social: Use the Repair Week promotional toolkit, including graphics and social media assets, to share your event across your channels.
- Promote on your website: Add your event details and pre-registration link to your website and email newsletters.
- Spread the word locally: Put up posters and printed materials in shop-fronts, community spaces, libraries, cafés and local shops.
- Get your partners involved: Ask collaborators, local organisations and community groups to share your event with their networks.
- Send reminders: Give people a friendly nudge in the days leading up to your event, particularly those who have already registered.
Top tip: Help us build excitement around Repair Week as a whole – share the wider campaign, use the Repair Week branding and encourage people to explore other events happening across London.
Consider pre registration
Asking people to pre-register for your event isn’t essential, but we highly recommend it.
Pre-registration can help you:
- Plan ahead: Get an idea of expected attendance so you can organise the right amount of space, materials and volunteers.
- Manage numbers: Keep track of registrations and decide whether you need to increase your promotional activity.
- Stay connected: Collect attendee contact details (with appropriate consent) so you can share useful information before and after the event.
- Build anticipation: Send attendees a reminder with key details, such as timings, directions and anything they need to bring.
There are lots of simple, free or low-cost platforms you can use to manage registrations, including Eventbrite, Google Forms, Microsoft Forms and Luma.
If your event is drop-in or has limited capacity, think about whether pre-registration, timed slots or a combination of both would work best.
Top tip: If you use a registration platform, make sure you include the link wherever you promote your event, so people can easily book their place.
Make the most of the day
You’ve done the planning and promotion – now it’s time to bring your event to life!
A welcoming and well-organised event can make all the difference to attendees’ experience.
A few things to consider:
- Make it welcoming: Have someone ready to greet visitors, explain what’s happening and help them feel comfortable.
- Make it easy to find: Use clear signage and directions, especially if your event is taking place in a larger venue.
- Share the story: Explain why repair matters and how small actions can help reduce waste and make better use of resources.
- Encourage participation: Give people opportunities to get hands-on, ask questions and learn new skills.
- Capture the moment: Take photos and videos (with appropriate permissions) to share your event and celebrate what you’ve achieved.
Remember, Repair Week is about making repair more visible, accessible and part of everyday life. You don’t need to put on a huge event to make a difference.
Evaluate your impact
Understanding your event’s impact can help you celebrate your successes, demonstrate the value of your involvement and make future events even better.
Before your event, think about what success looks like to you and what you’d like to measure.
Some useful measures could include:
- Attendance: How many people came along? Did you reach your expected audience?
- Repairs completed: How many items were repaired, or how many people received repair advice?
- Skills shared: How many people learned a new repair skill or gained confidence to try repairing something themselves?
- Waste prevented: Can you estimate how many items were saved from being thrown away?
- Engagement: How many people signed up, interacted with your promotional content or expressed interest in future activities?
- Feedback: What did attendees enjoy? What did they learn? What could be improved?
You don’t need to measure everything. Choose a few simple indicators that make sense for your event.
Top tip: Ask attendees for quick feedback on the day, either through a short survey, a feedback form or an informal chat.
And don’t forget to share your successes! Photos, stories, repair statistics and attendee feedback are all great ways to celebrate your contribution and inspire others to get involved.
