‘Repair cafe’ offers a quick fix for community
CAN they fix it? It seems the Salvation Army charity store in Gorseinon can as it hosted its first repair cafe event.
Karina Hare, a team member at the store, which opened in December, said the venture allows people to bring household items along, with the aim of getting them back into working order.
She said: “The concept of reuse, recycle and repair is a core part of our work. With the donation centres, we’ve always had an ambition to use the space and create links with the community – the idea of a repair cafe was something that really caught my interest.”
Inspired by Repair Cafe Wales and a visit to two other repair cafes held at St Catherine’s Church in Gorseinon and the Environment Centre in Swansea, Karina’s enthusiasm was kindled even further.
She said: “St Catherine’s Church in Gorseinon kindly showed me around and several of the volunteers there said that they would be more than happy to come and support us by volunteering at our first event.
“Lots of the repairer volunteers already volunteer at a couple of places – many of them said that they loved the challenge of a complex repair and see it as a fun puzzle to solve.
“I noticed that a tricky repair often prompted more conversation and a teamwork strategy – they really don’t like to be defeated!”
The first Repair Cafe at Salvation Army Gorseinon was a huge success, with several items being repaired including a mini Vespa, speakers and a coffee machine.
Gareth Carnegie, Gorseinon donation centre manager, said: “It was an honour to host our store’s first repair cafe. It was brilliant to meet an amazing group of new volunteers and to see all the items saved from disposal.
“We have a community area within our store and my vision is to make this adaptable space available to local charities and groups.
“The repair cafe was just the beginning and I hope to host many more community-based projects like this in the very near future to support people around Penllergaer and Gorseinon and the wider Swansea areas too.”
The next repair cafe at Salvation Army Gorseinon will be held today. Find out more on the Gorseinon donation centre Facebook page at www.facebook.com/swanseadc.