Caroline Hammat
Saturday’s launch of Millicent’s first repair cafe started slowly with three people taking up the offer of assistance for free repairs of their items.
Men’s Shed volunteer Tony Glowacki helped to repair a table top for Cathy Bradley who had heard about the initiative through a friend.
“Things were falling through the missing slat on the table top and that will stop now,“ Ms Bradley said.
“It was good to get it fixed and we are able to take it home and give it a rubdown.“
Megan Brennan brought along a wok she purchased 18 months ago which had a damaged handle.
“The handle on it shattered and was wobbling but the pan was still in really good condition,“ she said.
“When the repair cafe started up I thought somebody might be able to help me fix it.
“We did try to fix the old handle but it was too fragile so Chris Mathias has made me a lovely jarrah wooden handle.
“Chris cut it to shape with the band saw and I sanded it down before we glued it into place.
“It looks classier than it did and it has kept something out of landfill.“
Sandra Young is a member of Wattle Range Council’s climate change consultative committee, who helped organise the event in collaboration with Millicent’s Craft Group and Men’s Shed.
Ms Young said the three jobs, which included sewing a button on a beloved shirt, were quickly and successfully repaired.
“A couple were fixed within half an hour and the other job took a bit longer.
“We’ve got more volunteers than necessary this week but maybe next month we will have more people dropping in.
“If anyone wants to learn how to sew on buttons or darn, we have volunteers to teach them.
“The idea is for people to go away with more knowledge of how to do repairs themselves.“
The Repair Cafe is open monthly on a trial basis.
Its next opening is Saturday, April 20 from 10am until 12pm at the Millicent Men’s Shed, Fifth Street.
