Caroline Hammat
Members of Millicent’s Men’s Shed and Craft Group are participating in a six month trial for the town’s first repair cafe.
The idea stemmed from a meeting of Wattle Range Council’s climate change consultative committee as a way to keep items out of landfill.
President of the Millicent Men’s Shed, Chris Mathias, said they want to encourage people to bring in items that can be repaired within two hours.
“Things like furniture repairs and repairing toys,” he said.
“The whole idea is to teach people to be a bit more self-sufficient.
“They stay here and we teach them, and get them to do it as much as they can.
“We have the tools here and the expertise.”
Mr Mathias said if jobs brought in for the repair cafe take longer than two hours then they can be carried over to normal men’s shed practice.
“We have funding for the two hours of the repair cafe, but if it goes outside of that then it goes on the project board for repairs.
“Then we charge whatever it costs us in materials to repair, plus a donation,” he said.
Craft group members will take up temporary residence each month in the Men’s Shed meeting room to assist with small repairs.
Volunteers can help with basic sewing skills, like sewing buttons on, or repairs to crochet or knitted craft items.
Assistance is even available to help complete unfinished craft items.
Councillor John Drew is a member of the climate change consultative committee, and said they were keen to “improve people’s skills.”
“We are anxious not to take away from any businesses in Millicent, so the things we will provide is improving people’s skills to do things themselves, and keep something out of the dump,” he said.
“The sort of things I have in mind are a chair with a wobbly leg, simple items that can be repaired with basic carpentry.
“The key issue is it won’t be a drop off centre where you drop off your things to get fixed.
“The idea is you go along and learn how to repair it yourself with the guidance of skilled people.”
Funding for the trial has come from the Wattle Range Council climate change actions budget and the two groups will receive $600 for their contribution to the six month trial.
Children under 14 are not permitted in the workshop and at this stage no electrical items are able to be repaired.
The Repair Cafe will be open Saturday, March 23 from 10am until 12pm at the Millicent Men’s Shed, Fifth Street.
