Repair Cafe back again

After a forced four month hiatus, The Repair Cafe at The Orchard Church returns on Saturday. At the Repair Cafe volunteers with all kinds of skills and tools offer their expertise and time to fix things.

Co-ordinator Vanessa Hudson says the last monthly Repair Cafe was in March, just before the alert level 4 lockdown.

She says people can take anything along that is broken.

“If they can bring it to us, then we’ll have a go at fixing it,” she says.

“We get all sorts of things; lawnmowers, microwaves and chairs, mending and sewing, soft toys and clothing. It really is quite varied in what we get. We always get quite busy with the electrical and small appliance side of things.”

She says all is not lost, even if something can’t be repaired.

“Some things, when we take them apart, just aren’t safe to be fixed, but it at least gives people the assurance that if they do have to get a new one, they couldn’t have repaired what they had. But most of the time we can repair things.”

The volunteers also help people make their own repairs.

“They might not know how to even sew on a button, so people have a chance to learn those skills that are sometimes dying out, to keep them alive in the community.”

The repair service is free, although there is a donation box.

From the start of the year a car boot sale has been run alongside the Repair Cafe, and that too will restart on Saturday at $5 per stall.

“It’s just been a real shame not to be able to offer this community service, but I do know a lot of people spent time sorting their houses during lockdown, so I’m expecting the car boot sale will be popular this month,” says Vanessa.

The Repair Cafe at Te Puke’s Orchard Church will be starting up again on Saturda