The fix is in, as Warrnambool’s tinkerers get on the tools

Warrnambool Repair Cafe has a motto - “If you can carry it in the door, we’ll try and fix it” - and each month volunteers try to live up to that ideal by tinkering with household items in need of repairs brought in by community members.

What is it? Running for nearly two years, the Warrnambool group is part of an international Repair Cafe movement that began more than 16 years ago in the Netherlands. 

• Residents bring along something that is broken and volunteers work alongside them to try to repair it.

• The sessions run on the first Saturday of each month.

A social setting: Coordinator Brenda O’Connor told the Brolga the concept was as much about community as it was about fixing things.

🗣️ “The important element of Repair Cafe is our cafe, and it’s about engaging with community and conversations, and also stopping that throwaway society and knowing that things can be repaired,” she said.

How does it work? Each monthly session usually brings together about eight to 10 volunteers, who help residents repair everything from jewellery and clothing to garden tools and household gadgets.

• Across a typical morning, the team might repair between 25 and 35 items, from clothes with holes to broken bike chains and electrical products that need testing and tagging.

• Volunteers also supply tea and coffee, cakes and slices while your item is repaired.

All walks of life: Volunteers come from a wide mix of backgrounds, including retired tradespeople, hobbyists and locals who simply enjoy tinkering.

🗣️“I reckon Bill was a home handyman, [and] we’ve got Gerard, who’s still working in IT consultancy,” O’Connor said.

🗣️“[We have] retirement-age people, like a [former] seamstress doing sewing, another lady just loves fixing jewellery as a hobby.”

Unusual items: Some repair jobs stand out more than others.

• O’Connor recalled one memorable session when a “really large ottoman” was hauled through the door.

🗣️ “We had two clothing repair volunteers on and they were both there hand sewing the edges. That was a great sight to see, because it was rather big.”

The details: The Warrnambool Repair Cafe is on Saturday (March 7) from 10am to 12pm at the Archie Graham Community Centre on 118 Timor Street.

Residents can book online or drop in.