From the Chair of Haringey Fixers
This is the Haringey Fixers third Annual Report, so covers our 3rd financial year, 1st Sept 2024 – 31st August 2025
Membership of Haringey Fixers is free and open to all. Members appoint Trustees, tasking them with meeting our charitable purposes voted for by members themselves and outlined in detail in our Governing Document:
The protection and preservation of the environment for the public benefit by:
a) The promotion of repair and re-use to the people of the London Borough of Haringey
b) Advancing the education of the public about all aspects of repair and re-use.
The way we govern ourselves is laid out in our Governance pages
By voting to accept this report, you are accepting the strategy that the Trustees seek your approval for. By voting at the AGM, members are giving consent for the Trustees to follow the direction set out here and in the strategy.
This report it is issued in enough time before the event for members to put their own ideas and strategies forward. As members you have the right to have them put to the vote.
Overview
Over the years we have grown in experience and effectiveness – something we can all be proud of. We opened two new Repair CafĂ©s, our fourth (Hornsey) and fifth (Highgate). All made possible by generous volunteers – people who stepped forward in a wide range of roles, from helping each other fix broken stuff to working on the back office and volunteering as Trustees.
Funding
We obtained no funding this year. Fundraising is a slow, time-consuming process and we don’t have enough resource to apply for grants we are likely to be able to obtain. Funders generally require applications at least four months before needing the grant, so no quick wins.
Spreading the word
From the beginning, we realised that advertisements for repairers would lead to non-repairers realising that there were Repair CafĂ©s in Haringey and book in an item. IOW we found it unnecessary to advertise for âbringersâ (people who bring stuff in for help fixing).
After years of posts, mainly on Facebook with event listings on Harringayonline.com, Haringey bringers know by now what we do.
We match the demand for help with the help available to us, so almost every event has a happy balance of bringers and helpers.
So we limit advertising to the continuous search for âfixers\repairers\mendersâ – repairers without whom nothing gets fixed. Bringers see our calls for volunteers and repairers realise that they can bring stuff to us.
We are always on the lookout for new organisers, local people who will accept the responsibility of holding Repair Cafés in community venues. We aim to support them to be as self-sufficient as possible.
Our increasingly good word-of-mouth reputation created by happy bringers means we get approached spontaneously by local people wanting to make a difference.
Future finances
We are trying to continue without needing money to operate. However, we are likely to raise more funds in future as more funders step forward.
Most of all we need help with the internal admin of supporting our organisers, helping record the data at events and acting ‘behind the scenes’ replying to emails and monitoring social media. We have consistently been able to find enough people to help, with almost no exceptions.
Final word
Our future is bright, we are strong, resilient and act effectively.
Chris Setz 7th June 2026