New space for fixing old gadgets

HOLDING true to their mission, members of Bendigo’s Repair Cafe opened the doors on their new space last Saturday at a repurposed warehouse on Garsed Street.

The collective, now called the Share and Repair Shed, has expanded to include a permanent repair workshop, tool library, free food table, and useful bin.

City of Greater Bendigo mayor Cr Andrea Metcalf attended the launch and brought a food processor in for repair.

Laurie Whelan, a long-time supporter of the Repair Cafe, said that he had once brought in a food processor to be fixed as well.

“They pulled it apart and what it was, was a little switch inside that had broken and that’s all it was,” he said.

After years of not being able to use it, Mr Whelan’s appliance had been fixed in the matter of half an hour.

The appeal of the initiative for new volunteer Jess Jose is the sense of community and learning how easy it is to repair broken items.

“We had a broken toaster that my mum wanted to throw away and I brought it in and they just pulled out one thing and were able to fix it,” she said.

Last year the group received funding from Sustainability Victoria to assist them in finding a permanent location.

The City of Greater Bendigo is also supporting the project as part of their Circular Greater Bendigo initiative by paying most of the building’s lease.

Visitors are welcome to the space when it is open on Thursdays and every second Saturday and in future the group plans to host repair workshops and recycling information sessions.