The first Digital Repair Café, at MK SNAP
How the first Digital Repair Café in Milton Keynes went: a rainy Tuesday at MK SNAP, with two machines moved from Windows to Linux Mint.
Fix your technology.
Learn digital skills.
Find answers.
A free pop-up repair café in Milton Keynes. We are organising the next session now. Be sure to subscribe to our newsletter to find out when and where the next cafe takes place.
An initiative supported by
The practical bit
Turn up with a machine or without one: we will find you a seat and a screwdriver either way.
WhenBeing organised
We are working out the next date and place now. Newsletter subscribers
CostZilch
Nobody is selling you anything.
We don't sell hardware, and we welcome donations
These are what we need most. If you have any to spare, email hello@digitalrepaircafe.org.
- iFixit tool kits Screwdriver and opening kits like these from iFixit.
- Soldering kits For repairs that need more than a screwdriver.
- SATA SSDs, 250 to 500GB The quickest way to bring an old laptop or desktop back up to speed.
- USB keys, around 32GB For installing Linux and free software.
- Thermal pads or paste For machines that run hot.
- Your time Help at the café if you have some experience with computers.
It is probably not broken.
It has just been neglected.
Bring it along and we'll help you fix it yourself, with someone patient sitting beside you. Nothing in the drawer? Come anyway — we will have laptops and desktops there to take apart and tinker with.
We can help you:
Make an old machine fast again
More memory, a new drive, or a proper clean-out if it runs hot and slow.
Install Linux and free software
So you're not stuck buying Windows or Office.
Get set up with free alternatives
Replacements for the big tech apps you use every day.
Sort out staying safe online
Passwords, scams, and what to actually worry about.
You do the work, we show you how. If it's past saving, we'll help you recycle it properly.
Laptops and desktops only, sorry. We can't repair phones or tablets, but bring your questions about them anyway.
You do not need to bring anything. There will be laptops and desktops on the bench to open up and try things on.
No question is too basic. The people who ask the basic ones are the ones who go home understanding how it works.
Made for the people help usually skips
Everyone is welcome, at either end of the age range. We pay particular attention to the people who face the steepest barriers to getting help in the first place.
- Disadvantaged backgrounds
- People facing socio-economic barriers, who miss out on the tools and skills others take for granted.
- Mental-health conditions
- People living with mental-health issues, who benefit from a calm, patient and supportive space.
- The neurodiverse community
- People who are neurodiverse, including those with autism and ADHD, welcomed exactly as they are.
- Later in life
- Older people written off as past learning this, which is untrue and is why so few places bother to teach them.
Hear about the next one
We will email you when there is a new date, and now and then with what came in broken and went home working. Every email has a link to unsubscribe.
( 07 ) say hello
Come and say hello
We post what turns up on the bench and what walks out working. Bring us a question, or show us what you fixed.