ALMOST a year since the organisation\u2019s last event, the Ballarat Repair Cafe returned last Saturday at its new Barkley Square venue.<\/p>\n
Cafe working group volunteer Sue Jakob said the movement is about repairing and going against society\u2019s tendency to throw things away when they break.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes it turns out it\u2019s actually cheaper to throw something away and buy a new one so that\u2019s what we want to address as well as sustainability and saving things from landfill,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur fixers are all volunteers with expertise and it is a free service, but we do love a donation and people are usually pretty generous.\u201d<\/p>\n
People are welcome to bring broken items from electrical wares to clothing to the Repair Cafe on the last Saturday of every month from 1pm to 4pm.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe register the items and record the weight so we can get a cumulative total of how much we have saved from landfill, so far today we would\u2019ve already saved around 50 kilos,\u201d Ms Jakob said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t fix everything but they will have a look and even if they can\u2019t fix it, they can offer some advice and recommend how to fix it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After launching in Ballarat in 2019, the group has to settled into the new location among likeminded organisations and businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs well as the Tool Library there\u2019s a range of other compatible groups here in Barkley Square, so we felt it would be a better venue for us,\u201d Ms Jakob said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a couple of volunteers who work for us and for the Tool Library and we\u2019ve helped them with a few things, so there\u2019s a bit of synergy there.\u201d<\/p>\n
A volunteer with an affinity for sewing, Liz Wade said she loves being a part of the cafe and helping people to fix their things.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day, we feel like we\u2019ve done so much because we\u2019re fixing a lot of things as a group of people,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw the first information session and thought it was great to have one starting up locally, I loved the idea right away.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ALMOST a year since the organisation\u2019s last event, the Ballarat Repair Cafe returned last Saturday at its new Barkley Square venue. Cafe working group volunteer Sue Jakob said the movement is about repairing and going against society\u2019s tendency to throw things away when they break. \u201cSometimes it turns out it\u2019s actually cheaper to throw something […]<\/p>\n