We couldn’t be more excited to become an official sponsor of The Restart Project! If you follow us here at eSpares, you’ll know we have been championing the amazing work of this organisation for a long time so, to become an official sponsor is an absolute pleasure!

Over the next 12 months, we will be working alongside The Restart Project to help raise awareness of their important work that focuses on fixing our relationship with electronics and campaigning for a ‘Right to Repair’. Their dedication to making appliances, electricals and IT gadgets more repairable as well as making spare parts and information more accessible is what makes eSpares and The Restart Project a match made in heaven!

Let’s take a look at what exactly The Restart Project do and what we plan to achieve together in the coming year.

Who are The Restart Project?

It was established by founders Janet Gunter and Ugo Vallauri after they both grew tired of the throwaway, consumerist model of electronics being sold and the growing mountain of e-waste it was leaving behind. They started in London, but have managed to spread their message around the world!

Restart Parties

One of the ways The Restart Project encourage a ‘repair don’t replace’ mentality is by hosting Restart Parties. Taking place around once a month, these parties allow like-minded people to gather together and repair their faulty electricals from smartphones to kettles. Volunteers are on hand to offer advice and guidance to help people fix it themselves. These are a fantastic way to learn new skills, mix with other fixers, save money and have fun!

Check out the Restart Party schedule here.

Right to Repair campaign

The Restart Project also advocates and campaigns for the Right to Repair. This movement aims to encourage manufacturers to make the products we own more repairable and make spare parts and the information we need to fix them more available.

So far, the Right to Repair campaign has been very successful. Following a government review, the Ecodesign and Energy Labelling Regulations 2021 law was passed in March. The law states that companies that sell consumer electronics such as refrigerators, washing machines or TVs in the European Union and the UK will need to ensure those goods can be repaired for up to 10 years.

However, there are many flaws in this law. Some spare parts for these appliances will only be available to professional repair companies, it only applies to products manufactured after summer 2021, it doesn’t include IT gadgets such as mobile phones and the VAT is still very high. So, the work of the Right to Repair is certainly not done! The Restart Project, along with many other organisations that have joined the fight, continue to campaign for a better Right to Repair for everyone.

eSpares and The Restart Project

And that’s where we come in! Joining forces with The Restart Project means we can support the Right to Repair and their other amazing projects in more ways than one! Since hearing about the fantastic work of The Restart Project, we have supported them by spreading the word to our community and doing what we can to help. Earlier this year, we supported the team in their efforts repairing and refurbishing laptops to disadvantaged children and others in need who didn’t have access to one at home by doubling their donations. Now, as an official sponsor, we can get on board and help them even further!

How you can help

If you, like us, are passionate about making sure electronics are built to last as well as reducing the damage to our environment, there are some things you can do to help too!

• Make spare parts and repair information available to ALL! This means consumers and community repair initiatives as well as professional repairers.
• Make the Right to Repair rules apply to smartphones, tablets, laptops and other small electricals as well as larger appliances.
• Lower the cost of repairs by reducing VAT on the repair of electricals and electronic products. This would also contribute to creating 34,000 jobs in the repair economy.

Find out more and sign the petition!

Here at eSpares, we help our community diagnose, fix and maintain their household and garden appliances. We have over 900 articles and over 800 how-videos providing easy-to-follow advice and guidance. Head to our website to check it out and begin your fixing journey!

For more information on the Restart Project, the work they do and what’s in store for our 12-month sponsorship, check out our interview with co-founder, Ugo Vallauri. Or you can visit their website.