enfinium, a leading UK energy from waste operator, has today announced it has awarded £4,009 to three Repair Cafés across the West Midlands. The grant funding has been allocated to the St John’s Harbourne Repair Café in Birmingham, Rehome Repurpose Repair Café in Stafford, and the Rosliston Forestry Repair Café in Swadlincote, all situated near to enfinium’s Kelvin facility in Sandwell.
The grant funding will support and expand the services of the three Repair Cafés, enabling them to continue to repair faulty household items, diverting waste from landfill, and helping individuals keep cherished possessions for longer. Repairing items reduces the amount of waste sent to landfill and cuts overall CO2 emissions. For example, maintaining a single television for an additional 7 years has been found to save the equivalent of 657kg CO2.1
One of the beneficiaries, the Rosliston Forestry Repair Café, intends to use the funding to better promote awareness of its services and encourage greater participation from both volunteers and local residents seeking repairs. The grant funding will also be used to invest in health and safety training to ensure volunteers can carry out repairs safely and confidently.
In addition to covering general running costs, the St John’s Harborne Repair Café will use its grant funding to purchase new tools and equipment, helping it to keep pace with the growing variety of faulty items brought in as a its popularity increases. Owing to the broad skillset of its volunteers, the Repair Café can tackle an impressive range of repairs, ranging from household applications, consumer electronics and garden equipment, to toys and clothing.
Philip Curds, Head of ESG & Sustainability at enfinium, said: “At enfinium, we are committed to helping reduce waste and supporting the transition to a more circular economy. Repair cafés bring that to life in a very practical way – keeping products in use for longer, reducing what goes to landfill, and empowering people with the skills and confidence to repair rather than replace.”
James Reed, Lead at St John’s Harborne Repair Café in Birmingham, said: “We are delighted to once again be supported by enfinium to help serve our community. This funding allows us to grow and expand the support we can offer to people, helping to repair an increasingly wide variety of everyday items. We are proud of our commitment to help reduce waste and engage with local residents to be better stewards of the resources we use.”
Justine Di Cesare, Chief Executive Officer at Rehome Repurpose Repair Café in Stafford, said: “From vintage clocks and record players, to vacuums and microwaves, we have helped repair a whole host of household items this year. We are grateful to enfinium’s support to help us in welcoming the community to give advice, share skills and help the environment by reducing our waste.”
enfinium’s Repair Café Support Fund will reopen on 1 January 2026 and run until 31 May 2026. Eligible Repair Cafés can apply for funding of up to £1,500 per annum before the deadline.
If you would like to learn more about the Repair Cafés Support Fund, or apply for funding, please visit the project website Repair Café or email communityfunding@enfinium.co.uk.
ENDS
Note to editor:
Application process
To apply for the Repair Café Support Fund, please visit the project website Repair Café, where the application criteria are available and the application forms can be downloaded.
Statistical information
1. Öko-Institut e.V., “Economic and environmental impacts of extending the durability of electrical and electronic equipment”, 2020, p. 6.
About enfinium
enfinium is a leading UK energy from waste operator with five operational sites in the UK, in West Yorkshire, Kent and Flintshire, and one in construction. enfinium diverts 2.7 million tonnes of unrecyclable waste from climate-damaging landfill, putting it to good use by turning it into home grown energy, enough to power 600,000 UK homes. enfinium’s ambition is to transform its facilities into local ‘decarbonisation hubs’ powered by the millions of tonnes of unrecyclable waste the UK will produce for decades to come. Using existing energy from waste infrastructure, enfinium could contribute to heat networks, produce electrolytic hydrogen, or use carbon capture technology to provide durable, high quality carbon removals which will be critical for the UK to achieve net zero by 2050. For more on enfinium, please visit www.enfinium.co.uk.
